County Amateur League left playing catch-up (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

County Amateur League left playing catch-up

4:00pm Monday 13th February 2012 in Sport By Philip Rhodes

Another blanket wipe-out of fixtures left West Riding County Amateur League officials consulting their diaries as they tried to map out the rest of the season.

The continuing severe frost meant all scheduled games in the league and various cups were postponed for the second Saturday in succession.

Over 40 league fixtures have been lost in this time, adding to the backlog that will have to be slotted in once the lighter evenings arrive.

But the main concern is for clubs who are involved in external knockout competitions such as the West Riding County FA Challenge Cup, which take precedence over league games until completed.

It took five attempts to play the third-round tie between Golcar United and Brighouse Town, while other County Amateur League teams are still involved in their own District FA Cup competitions.

As a result it is inevitable that the published fixtures are having to be changed on a weekly basis.

One of the biggest headaches for clubs is that all open age football now uses the match-based disciplinary system for players’ suspensions.

This means they have to keep the County FA informed of which games their players will be banned from. With games being called off, this adds to the length of time a player is missing from the team.

Meanwhile, the draw for the Bradford & District Saturday Senior Cup semi-finals has been made and is as follows: Wibsey v Campion (Tuesday, March 6 at Fields FC, 7pm), Tyersal v Salts (Monday, March 12 at Eccleshill United FC, 7pm).

The final is scheduled to be played at Thackley FC on Monday, March 26 (7pm).