LEADERS Morley, like the rest of the clubs in National Three North, will be hoping the weather will relent and allow their game against Rochdale to go ahead at Scatcherd Lane on Saturday (2pm).

The postponement for the second time last Saturday of the league game at Penrith meant more frustration. Morley have been playing so well that they will not really welcome a lengthy break and the problem is keeping the players fully focussed as well as fit as they seek to retain their lead at the top of the table. In such circumstances no club welcomes a break.

The trip to Penrith has now been re-arranged for the first available date, which is February 6, while the Yorkshire Cup tie at Pontefract, which had been initially due last weekend, has to be put further back and a suitable date is still being sought.

The irony last weekend was that had the Penrith fixture been at Morley it would almost certainly have been played.

There was no snow on the pitch at Scatcherd Lane and because it is well grassed, the frost had not taken a grip. The subsequent snow gave cover from the frost.

However, yesterday’s much heavier falls and the prospect of more to come this week means there will at least be a major clearing up operation to enable Saturday’s game to go ahead, and a postponement for the third successive weekend currently seems more likely.

The planned earlier kick-off of 2pm is to make sure the game can be played in decent light. There is a problem with one of the floodlights and this rules out the chance of a later start.

Maroons’ coach Peter Seabourne said: “The lads are desperate to play but there is nothing you can do about the weather and we haven’t been used to such extreme conditions in recent years. You can only do so much in training, although you try hard to match the contact which would occur in a proper match.”

With prospects for last Saturday’s game being so poor, Seabourne relented and gave the players the day off at new year, which was no doubt a welcome relief for some.

But any excess will have been worked out on Saturday when they went to Batley Sports Centre and trained flat out for 90 minutes on the all-weather pitch so some useful preparation work was done.

The coach remarked: “We needed a good blow-out and this was just right, it was a pleasant change from indoor training.

“We shall now get back to the usual Tuesday and Thursday routine for our weekly preparation, it’s just that we would like to get a game in.”

The end of the holiday break means Sean and Peter Dadswell are again available and carrying no injuries after their skiing trip and the only absentee this weekend will be Will Nutbeen, who is still away.

This will present Seabourne with a selection poser as so many players have impressed and are challenging for regular starting places.