MJM Cup could well be floored by the cold snap

AS THE majority of Junior clubs face a fourth straight Saturday without a match, it has emerged that the fixture backlog may lead to one of the East Region's Cup competitions being scrapped this season.

While clubs knew from the start of the season that they were scheduled to have two blank weekends at Christmas and New Year, that break is now being extended by the cold snap.

On the Saturday before Christmas, Bathgate's Fife & Lothians Cup clash in St Andrews was the only fixture that went ahead in the East Region due to the snow and ice.

Tomorrow's card has been totally wiped out, with East Region secretary John Reilly admitting that prospects already look bleak for the majority of games next weekend, when the fourth round of the Emirates Scottish Junior Cup is due to be played.

"I sent out an email to all the clubs earlier in the week asking them to let me know if there was a chance of their game going ahead this weekend but I didn't hear a single cheep, so it looks as though it's a complete wipeout," he said.

"The SFA didn't even send out a referees' ballot to either ourselves or the West Region earlier in the week and, as things stand, the prospects don't look great for next weekend either.

"It could be the odd game can be played but there's definitely a backlog building up and, while it's still early, it's maybe the case that the local cup competitions in our three districts in the East might not be played this year."

In the case of the Lothians clubs, that is the MJM Flooring Cup, won last season by Musselburgh, who beat Linlithgow Rose in the final.

Reilly added: "Kelty Hearts have only played five games so far in the Super League, which is not ideal, but, as always, we will just have to get on with things.

"Clubs will probably have to face the prospect of playing more than the one game a week later in the season." Bo'ness, the Super League leaders, last played a competitive game on 5 December and manager Allan McGonigal admits it's been a struggle trying to keep players fit.

"You are limited to what you can do when the weather is as bad as this and, for a full two weeks, we did nothing at all with the players," he said.

"We had them back in on Sunday before the Old Firm game and worked for two hours on Blackness beach, giving them what was basically a pre-season running session in the snow to get the Christmas and New Year out of their system.

"It is also about trying to get them back into the routine of being at the football club again.

"This week we were fortunate to get a couple of hours indoor, training for the first hour in the Bo'ness Recreation Centre and then walking over to the school for an another hour there.

"We've got another couple of hours booked in the school gym on Saturday afternoon and that's about all you can do when it's like this.

"The likes of Alloa, Stenhousemuir and Stirling Albion are all looking for games but there's just nowhere you can play at the moment."

One player who's quite happy to see football suffer a shutdown at the moment is Bo'ness defender Fraser Forrest.

"He's rubbing his hands just now," added McGonigal. "He went in for a double hernia operation on 12 December and that looks to have been a smart move as he's not going to miss as many games as we first feared."