rory success

I understand that the tickets are non-refundable per SFA.Sorry but that is the rules. The clubs can make arrangements accordingly ie can refund if they wish The Locos were obliged to give Motherwell 500 tickets which I undertand wa based on the kind of travelling support to Aberdeen. Well asked for more. The Locos allocation of 2000 was sold out therefore they had no more to give. Motherwell are responsible for the cost of the 500 tickets. I am guessing that having demanded more than 500 it would have been embarrassing for an SPL club to be saying please take some back. The Locos committee had a waiting list in excess of 500 for any returned tickets and so would probably have taken returns if sufficient advance notice was given. there was a lot of disappointed people who could not get to this unique match. Lets say 200 fans have unused tickets. Surely the Well could afford to give them a refund? £3 grand compared with the £15 grand they were willing to shelve out for the balloon? Please guys dinny come lookin to a HFL club at grass root football for a handout.

Thanks for that Al . your good wishes are appreciated. Hope you guys enjoyed the snowball fight last night!

Best Team won. Fair enough. But the divide between HFL and SPL was a lot narrower than I expected. That was a good performance from the Locos against a class side. The divide was as I saymuch less than I expected and it would be good to see the video of the match as while Well were the sharper side and a tad fitter locos tried to play just as much football. I think anyone watching or listening would be impressed with what the HFL side had to offer. The first goal was a killer but the way we fought back was tremendous. Well done all the lads, the management, the committee but most of all the ground staff who I talked to at two today and were still working at ten tonight. Without you guys there would have been no match! A great advert for the HFL. Hope you have something left to beat the Buddies and those who visited the backwater will come back on a nice summers day ! Brilliant snowball fight behind the goal - that's what football matches were like when I was growing up in the sixties.

Here! Here! The snow has gone off the last hour or so , just occasional flurry. Lights have been on at Harlaw for the last hour so I assume the park is getting the final touches with the brush machine. must be game on now but I assume Willie Collum has still to arrive. he refferd our last match in the cup and I was impressed with his handling of the game.

I'd recommend getting 4-0 up and seeing the game out. Professional players trying to make a fool of semi-pro's might be a recipe for disaster for the remainder of your season. You still have a cup game on saturday to think about !

Lookin forward te some banter the nicht. Oor lads train in this weather aw the time efter a days wirk. Will see what the pros are made o on a cauld night in the Garioch and some highland league style fitba

Well wont exist by that Time Andy, well perhaps as a small company renting inflatibles at inflated prices to the half dozen teams left playing in the euorleague.

What about your two months last season ? Conveniently forgotten. I thought you guys had blankets,balloons etc.

TOO TRUE WEEYIN Heres a quote from the HFL website , not from a locos fan but another. ...is it factual ? Pot, kettle, black springs to mind over Motherwell's stance in this. The club's management would appear to have short memories. This time last year there were eight postponements at Fir Park in two months because of pitch problems there. And spare a thought for Vale of Leithen in all this. It cost them £8,000 and three fruitless journeys in the last round, nothing compared to what Motherwell have had to endure so far.

snow more like sleet although it is lying on the road, given the work done on the park I will be surprised if its greatly affected . Pretty sure it will be slippy enough to casue concern. TBH if i was due to head to Fir park Iwould be having second thoughts as you are goin into a snow storm. Gettin here might be OK but will Lanarkshire be open when you return.? rory

I was on the pitch 30 minutes ago. They have a machine which brushes the snow and everywhere was green except the lines which were in the middle of being painted. I spoke to the groundsman who is heartily sick of the criticism that has been received about this tie and he knows just how much time and effort has gone into getting this game played with effectively volunteers doing much of the work along with help from Pittodrie Ground staff. When decisions are made about covers on, covers off they are made locally using local weather forecasts and knowledge of the pitch. Anyone who knows anything will tell you that putting a cover on a pitch that is already frozen is about as stupid as you can get. How come every punter seems to become a horticultural specialist overnight. Thee is a dusting of snow now with a sky that is full of it. I'm sure efforts will be made to ensure that the ties is played . There is probably not time for the pitch to freeze before and I dont think Motherwells balloon would have been of much use.

Look , you guys canny get a match on when yeve got aw the fancy balloons , blankets and covers . We are a wee HFL team , grass roots football, run on a tight budget. We have Pittodries cover and their ground staff advising us. Not often you will find a call off there. You need to go back into the glass house and put the stones in the rockery first.

... and the grass banking slopes away fromthe pitch ! bring yer sledges seriously , at the moment its just a dusting of snow by our standards so should be a goer rory

it gets worse . Not sure who tis dame is speaking for Motherwell but she should have the brains to realise that she can't bully succesful businessmen into forking out several grand for no good reason. this is from the club website. you will see the conversation is witnessed .I think I know who is mad ! The Harlaw Park club prepared the following statement on Saturday night ahead of any reviewed discussions more agreeable to the home team:It reads: "Leanne Dempster telephoned Steve Innes at around 12 noon on Thursday 29th January offering a "gesture" from Motherwell FC to the Locos - the use of the state of the art defrosting facilities owned by Motherwell FC. Following deliberation regarding the ideal time that this apparatus would require to be most effective, and the actual time available as a consequence of our important league tie with fellow title contenders Buckie at Harlaw Park on 31st Jan, it was discussed that this equipment could be operational from 5pm Saturday until Monday 2nd Feb lunchtime. The proposal appeared initially to be an excellent way forward in trying to ensure the rearranged game could proceed to be played on Monday. However, it was disclosed that Motherwell were requiring payment of £5,000 "costs" and that additional running costs, estimated at £1,000 made the proposal unacceptable to the Locos. Leanne Dempster proceeded to suggest that we were "mad" not to accept the proposal. Several times she quoted the word "mad". Steve Innes's mobile was on "hands-free", primarily so that Eddie Innes ( Vice Chairman ) and fellow Committee member Allan Booth were able to listen carefully to what technical requirements might be necessary. They heard the words used by Ms Dempster and were not surprised when Steve Innes abruptly ended the telephone conversation by stating she should call again when she was prepared to take a different stance" Thank you Leanne Dempster. If the backwater comment was not sufficient to rile people then she sure has done the trick.

another view of the Dairy....and its not our centrecalf its our centre caf