ONE thing dominated local football this week and that was the surprise resignation of Lancaster City manager Alan Tinsley.

Alan has been a fixture at the club ever since I started covering them on another certain local paper. He is a gentleman and is always ready to speak about things - even when they're not going quite so well.

If you have seen my interview with him elsewhere in CitizenSport you will have read about his reasons for quitting. As ever, Alan was prepared to take time to make the situation clear.

It's a shame when a man who has been involved with the game of football for so long as a player and a manager becomes so disillusioned with the whole thing. I think John Bagguley put it best when he said it was a very sad day for the club.

It is now down to the board of directors to come up with a manager who will continue to move the club forward in the way that Alan Tinsley has done. And that manager's first job must be to bring in a top quality striker to replace John Coleman.

On the other side of the river, Morecambe are going great guns despite a small setback at Stalybridge on Tuesday night.

Jim Harvey has assembled a good squad which seems capable of playing in a variety of styles to suit the conditions and opposition.

It is good to see Mark Ceraolo back in action after his injury. While Lancaster City are struggling to find a field a recognised strike-force, Morecambe seem to have an embarrassment of riches with Ceraolo, Justin Jackson, John Norman and Jim McCluskie, not to mention Dave Leaver, Ian Monk and Ian Cain.

Now is traditionally the time when the fixtures start to get messed up with the weather playing it's annual havoc. Both our sides have already played fewer games than the sides above them so let's hope for a mild winter.

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