Fixture pile-up poses problems

ONE of the fallen floodlight pylons at Mossley football club.

 GRIPPED by ice and snow, local football and rugby league in Oldham are gearing up for another weekend wipe-out.

Athletic’s home match against Leyton Orient in Coca-Cola League One was postponed yesterday, and all the amateur matches in the borough are expected to go the same way.

A serious problem is emerging in rugby league’s Carnegie Challenge Cup, where the scheduled preliminary round fixtures look set to go unplayed for a second week running.

Oldham St Anne’s are down to face Wigan St Jude’s at home for the right to face Stanningley away in the first round proper on the weekend of January 23 and 24, while Waterhead should be taking on Drighlington at home with the prize for the winner being the visit of West Hull.

Saddleworth Rangers — whose National Conference league division one game away at Bradford Dudley Hill is “99-per-cent certain” not to go ahead tomorrow — have already been given a bye to round one, where they face Siddal at home two weeks tomorrow.

Both St Anne’s and Waterhead are looking towards rearranging their threatened Challenge Cup ties for the following weekend of January 16 and 17 — a must if the competition’s first round clashes are to go ahead as planned a week later.

However, that solution will in turn cause knock-on problems for the BARLA National Cup, the next round of which is down to be played on January 16.

Club secretaries are currently awaiting guidance from the RFL. But it could be that some games have to be played in midweek, weather permitting, in order to clear the building fixtures backlog.

Elsewhere, Oldham Boro are due to entertain Wigan Robin Park in division one of the Vodkat North-West Counties League, but the Whitebank Stadium pitch is currently under several inches of snow.

“There is more chance of Abba reforming than us playing tomorrow,” said Boro manager Tony Mills.

“Where we’ve tried to clear some of the snow, it’s now frozen solid. I can’t say when we’ll play again, it’s that bad.

“We even had our training session at Chapel Road cancelled because of the weather.”

The only glimmer of hope is Chadderton’s match at AFC Blackpool in NWCL division one.

Officials at the Mechanics ground remain upbeat, despite upwards of four inches of lying snow.

Blackpool secretary Billy Singleton said: “I’ve got great faith in the quality of our pitch, the playing surface is good and the drainage system is now excellent.

“I think sometimes clubs can be a bit hasty in calling off games. We’re determined to get it on if possible.”

Chadderton have played just two matches since the end of October and are desperate to return to action.

But boss Paul Buckley is so confident of the fixture being postponed, he has already booked a training session tomorrow at the Soccer Village in Milnrow.

Hopes of action at Mossley are also slim after days of snow and ice.

Chris Willcock’s side are at home to Garforth Town in UniBond League division one north.

The Seel Park outfit are currently reeling after two floodlight pylons collapsed, which has prompted officials to move the kick-off time forward to 1.30pm.

The D&J Builders (North-West) Ltd Oldham Sunday League programme resumes this weekend after the Christmas and New Year break, but the chances of play are virtually nil.

All matches in the Huddersfield League this weekend were called off this morning.

A result of this inactivity is that fixtures are mounting up fast.

For example, the backlog of matches in the Lancashire and Cheshire League stands at 250, and that figure will surely rise with the freeze set to continue for some days yet.




OLDHAM RU face another blank weekend as their first-team game at Upper Eden tomorrow has been called off - along with all the club’s other fixtures.