IT WAS a very quiet journey home from Harrogate Town a week last Tuesday.

Our Millennium Stadium dream was over for another 12 months, and the next game against Worksop Town at home couldn't come quick enough.

The game itself was a great advert for non-League football, and the 1-1 scoreline meant that we remained eight points clear at the top - in front of Worksop who I am sure will be our main challengers at the end of the season.

Our match against Blyth Spartans, scheduled for tomorrow night, has been cancelled as the North East outfit are playing in their County Cup and I can't say I am sorry as it is a long way to travel for a midweek game.

I think the league's fixture secretary must be under the impression that it is just around the corner.

The UniBond fixtures this season have been compiled by the Football Association so if anybody has any complaints they should direct them to the FA and I am sure they will find a good excuse.

We are the only club in our league without a local derby on Boxing Day, instead we have a nice trip to Whitby Town, just a three hour drive away!

I just hope our players haven't had too much to eat on Christmas Day.

It is a long way for our supporters to have to travel also, however I am sure that the FA have a good reason for sending us to the east coast for Christmas.

I have just finished a stint on local radio station The Burn.

It was good working with Keith Macklin and Andy Neild, and I hope that the station gets it licence soon as it is great for local news.

Rossendale United have had a topsy turvy season so far, but Andrew Connolly has spent a lot of money improving Dark Lane.

He must be very proud of their progress off the field and I am sure that Jim McCluskie will soon get things right on the field.

Jim had two spells at Stanley and has been a prolific goalscorer throughout his time on the non-League scene. He had his first taste of management at Stanley and the experience he has in non-League will no doubt stand him in good stead at Rossendale.

With the full support that he has from the Chairman I am sure that they will soon be in the UniBond Premier Division.

Rossendale gave debuts to Ged Smith, former Hyde United player John Halpin, Kelechi Okorie who played two games for Stanley before disappearing to Norway, and John McGill from Chester City.

Okorie's two games for Stanley were against Emley and he did quite well before getting injured.

Last week we signed Michael Knowles from Morecambe, who burst onto the UniBond scene with Morecambe in 1993 as a 17-year-old.

The midfielder had trials with Premier League giants Liverpool and Blackburn Rovers, before picking up a bad back injury. He was an important part of Morecambe's promotion winning side in 1994/95, making 38 appearances.

Hopefully he can also help Stanley to gain promotion to the Conference this season!

I was not surprised to see Lancaster beat Harrogate Town last Saturday as I expect Lancaster to be challenging at the end of the season, even though they have had a bad start.

Another ex-Stanley player has been scoring well for Lancaster, and he always likes to score against Stanley! Brian Welch was a crowd favorite here but spent a lot of time out injured.