GETTING to the top is one thing, staying there is a whole lot harder.

Just ask Bels’ leading officials and their new coach Leighton Chainey who, after years of honest endeavour at the heart of the club defence, gets his big chance to manage the team and, in no time it seems, discovers it falling apart through no fault of his own.

There were some worried frowns among the Bels contingent at Blanche Pierre Lane last weekend. So there should be.

If Scott Bradford’s defection was not bad enough, the loss of their main man, Dave Rihoy, to a knee injury which will keep him out for up to three months, must have felt like a dagger in the heart for diehard Belgraves.

Today, they entertain Hythe and Dibden in the first round of the Hampshire Cup at the Track when they are also without skipper Sam Cochrane, midfield bustler Matt Drillot and, it should not be forgotten, the versatile Charles Pinsard, who has temporarily retired. My money is on a comfortable away win.

The word is that this week Bels have been chasing replacements and you can bet that their sights have been on Blanche Pierre Lane where there is an embarrassment of riches.

Whether they are successful in their out-of-window recruitment, only time will tell, but what were small cracks at the tail-end of their championship winning season in March – remember how bare a squad they looked in losing the Clydesdale FA Cup final to Rangers – have suddenly become big cracks.

If the ever-passionate Bels president Hilary Sarre needs nudging as to the potential severity of the situation, he might care to recall how quickly Sylvans fell apart after their decade of dynasty.

Good football teams mostly take time to develop, but half the time to fall apart.

Struggling they may be, but on the evidence of last Saturday’s 3-1 Jeremie Cup loss to St Martin’s, there is no shortage of passion among the Bels players and you would not expect it with a leader such as Cochrane at the back.

But at this time of trouble Chainey might be best served to move Joby Bourgaize (pictured) into midfield from left-back and add some drive and added power to the middle line which was over-run by a Saints side who have made more subtle changes to an already good side.

Bourgaize is simply too good to be a left back in a struggling side which may even struggle to retain a top-three place now the severity of Rihoy’s injury is known.

Moving Jamie Dodd from left-back to a central position alongside Tom Strawbridge just may well be a winner. He’s quick, strong and while he has much to learn about the role, I can see why the move has been made.

But most striking about St Martin’s last weekend was the performance of Matt Warren.

I gave him a bit of a rough time last season and even suggested his island career was as good as over. His legs had gone.

Against Bels he was like a new player, a more conservative, more thoughtful one.

He held a deep position while others charged forward and the way he broke up play and got things going was part of Bels’ undoing.

I had thought playing the 2003 NatWest Island Games final hat-trick hero as a centre-back might be the answer to prolonging his island career, but the holding role may be even more effective.

One decent game does not transform a career, but with island manager Tony Vance watching on I am sure Warren’s excellence did not go unnoticed.