Spennymoor Sunday League

S and ice put paid to the fixture list and mow the league faces a chaotic run-in with some clubs having 18 league games to fulfil.

But the league is adamant that, despite the atrocious weather which has dogged the season, they will complete the programme.

"There's no doubt that we will get the season finished," said secretary Mike Clarke. "It's going to be extremely difficult and there will be a lot of two-game weeks for most teams, starting at the end of this month, but we are determined to overcome the backlog."

The league received a massive boost recently when their request to extend the season until the end of May was accepted by Durham County FA. It means they now have 12 weeks to work with.

"Durham FA's decision will help us a great deal," said Clarke. "But we still have a lot of hard work to do and only full co-operation from everyone involved in the league will help us through."

Fixture secretary Norman Dale has been ripping his hair out over the last two months trying to get games arranged. The endless list of postponed games has undoubtedly put a strain on everyone connected to the League.

In a bid to combat the back-log, the league will be scheduling most cup games in midweek.

It will be a testing period for the league, all club secretaries and players alike, and in order to complete the season in full, the co-operation of secretaries is particular potent.

Mike Clarke added: "It is absolutely essential that all club secretaries work with us and co-operate fully in order to fulfil fixtures.

"It's been a frustrating period for all of us but we will able to complete the season with the help and support of all clubs and their secretaries."

Two teams who will find life particularly difficult near the end of the campaign are Aycliffe sides Huntsman and Europa.

The Division Two teams have both played just ten league games out of 28. And Europa also face at least another two cup games - that's a minimum of 20 games in just 12 weeks.

It means Europa and probably Huntsman would both have to play every Sunday from now until the end of the season - without any postponements - in addition to at least eight midweek games.

"It is extremely frustrating," says Europa secretary Garry Preston. "We've turned up so many times just to have games called off. We lost a few at the start of the season for various reasons, but the situation at the moment has made our position even worse.

"It also makes it difficult to keep people interested. We're still doing well but some of the lads are becoming increasingly disappointed with the amount of games we're playing.

Huntsman secretary Martin Walker added: "We've never known anything like it. We've played two games this year and, although we're still somehow managing to keep people keenly interested, it will become almost impossible unless if we have a good run of weather.