Winter of discontent: Seasonal savage for district's fixture lists
RIPON City boss Charlie Brown admits they are battling the weather ahead of their proposed home West Yorkshire League Premier Division clash against Otley Town at Mallorie Park tomorrow (2pm ko).
With Arctic conditions hitting the region City alongwith neighbours BOROUGHBRIDGE have been thwarted in their attempts to string a run of games together over the festive period meaning a dreaded fixture pile-up looks likely at the end of the season.
Otley are due to make the trip to North Yorkshire looking for a morale-boosting win after a poor start to their Premier campaign.
Brown knows his side have a great chance to pick up three welcome points if they can get their game on.
"It's a good chance for us to get a win," he said.
"Otley come to us not in the best form. We've got a great chance to get a win and start the new year off well. We'll prepare for it like any other game, we just hope we beat the weather.
"We need to get the game on. We've missed the last few matches and it's important for the players fitness, they've missed a few now and we need to get back into it.
"There's the Whitworth game against Harrogate Town which was postponed and the League Cup game which we'll need to play again.
"It's frustrating but it's all out of our hands, there's not much we can do about it and we know all the other teams are in the same boat."
City will have a full strength squad at their disposal apart from striker James Charlesworth who will miss the remainder of the season after recovering from a knee operation.
"Losing James will be a big blow," added Brown.
"We've looked a different side since came back. We've been putting square pegs in round holes playing players in different positions but we had an out and out striker when he came back.
"It's a shame but we'll just have to do what we were doing before."
Daz Ekin's BOROUGHBRIDGE are due to welcome Ossett Common Rovers to Aldborough Road tomorrow with his side looking to beat the freeze.
'Bridge's proposed clash on Saturday away at Aberford was postponed due to a frozen pitch.
Ekin's side have a tricky month to contend with. Next week they welcome Rothwell before two tasty clashes against Bardsey and Leeds City home and away respectively.
West Yorkshire League
Premier Division P Pts
Beeston St Anthony's 15 32
Bardsey 12 28
Sherburn White Rose 14 26
Altofts 15 23
Field Sports & Social 13 22
Boroughbridge 14 22
Whitkirk Wanderers 14 21
Knaresborough Town 12 20
Ripon City 15 18
Leeds City 12 18
Aberford Albion 16 15
Rothwe ll Athletic 16 14
Otley Town 15 14
Pool 13 14
Ossett Common Rovers 12 11
Carlton Athletic 14 11
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Weather for Ripon
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 8 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 22 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: East
