SOCCER: The snowfall in the early hours of Saturday morning had a disastrous effect on games due to be played later in the day in the Blackburn and District Football Combination.

Although most of the snow had cleared by kick off time, it left behind waterlogged pitches making them unplayable. The minor miracle was that two games got the go ahead and these were the games vital to the final outcome in the championship race for the Colborne Trophies Premier Division.

Ewood Amateurs met Whitehall Top Con who were fielding a very young and inexperienced side. Although they could well have taken the lead early in the game they really were no match for the far superior Ewood outfit. However, if they stick together and learn from these daunting experiences, they could well be challenging for honours in the near future.

As the game progressed Ewood took a stranglehold on the proceedings and ran out easy winners, the final score was 8-0. Goalscorers for Ewood were B Derbyshire (three) and one each for J Riley, L Usborne, S Eggleston, L Shaw and C Andre.

In the other vital game Griffin Celtic met St Mary's College Old Boys, both of whom are now left chasing second place with Ewood now only requiring one point from five games to clinch the title.

Griffin, with just three games left, can reach 33 points and College Old Boys with nine games can reach the same total. Manxman and Netlon still have slim hopes, but must rely on others slipping up. The game between Griffin Celtic and St Mary's was certainly a tough one with neither side willing to concede to the other. It was a game for men and not boys with so much at stake. The game was scoreless at half time and at that stage a goalless draw seemed to be the inevitable outcome.

College however, felt differently when D Livesey put them ahead well into the second half, but Neil Cook who is always likely to score, nipped in to put Griffin level and at the end of the day a 1-1 draw was a fair result. Pleasington, who travelled to Turton to play in the Northern Cup competition, won 2-0 with goals from D Quirk and S Ellis. Pleasington are now through to the last eight of this competition which covers the Lancashire, Cheshire, Merseyside and Manchester areas.

At the league's mid-season meeting, held last week, the league's fixture secretary outlined the serious problems of the large fixture backlog. It had been decided to suspend the Sports Council Cup competition. Clubs were asked to approve that Divisional Cup games should be decided in the first game cutting out replays. This approval was given. Even these measures may not be enough to solve the problems as games are still being lost to the weather and the full co-operation of clubs will be needed if the league is to complete its season.

Referees who have received appointments for the Sports Council Cup, due to be played this Saturday, will be contacted by phone with new appointments as second round games in the Divisional Cups will be played on this date.

Fixtures for Saturday - Birtwistle Cup second round: Netlon v St Mary's College Old Boys (P1).

Eddleston Cup second round: Centurions v Bangor Old Boys; Clarence v Langho; Ivy Hotel v Blackburn YMCA (P2).

Cotton Cup first round replay: New Gardeners v Anchor Hotel (P3).

Cotton Cup second round: Cupal FC v Pleasington Res (P4); Worth Avenue v Alexandra Hotel Res (P5).

Livesey Cup second round: St Matthew's Res v Shaws of Darwen (P6); Grimshaw Park v Crown Berger Res (P7); Brinscall v Blackburn Olympic Res (P8).

Colborne Trophies Premier Division: Griffin Celtic v Rishton (P9).

Neales Waste Management Fourth Division: Railway Hotel Darwen v Rishton C (P11).

Depending on the weather conditions and the state of pitches on the day, it may well be that some changes will have to be made to the printed pitch allocation.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.