FOOTBALL made a welcome return to the local parks after snow, ice and rain had sidelined the stars of the Halifax leagues for over a month.
And it was a fine return for Hebden Royd Red Star in the Halifax Ziggy's Spice House League Premier Division as they won 3-1 at Greetland AFC.
The game was not without controversy with Greetland claiming that they had been denied a couple of penalti
es – one of their players being red carded for protesting too vehemently after the second knockback.
Red Star were unconcerned having bounced back from the blow of conceding an early own goal.
They levelled the scores through a looping effort from Collins following a corner and Marvin Bonney gave Hebden the lead on the stroke of half time when a long throw caught out the home defence.
With 15 minutes left Greetland's Dave Woffenden broke clear of the offside trap, attempted to round the keeper and was brought down with a free kick being awarded on the edge of the area
Matters got worse for Greetland when James Greenwood went down in the penalty area. Again no spot kick was given and Ainley got his marching orders.
When Greetland won a corner in the last seconds, goalkeeper Tom Greenwood pushed forward and the ball broke to leave Bonney with an easy task to wrap up the points.
Midgley United lost 4-2 at Siddal Athletic, unable to recover from slipping 3-0 behind.
Midgley improved vastly after the break and a goal from Tom Booth gave them hope but Siddal got a fourth goal on the break.
Matthew Whiteley headed Midgley's second with 20 minutes to go but the game fizzled out.
Bottom club Calder 76 were unable to take anything from their trip to Halifax Irish Centre, losing 4-2 despite a brace from the prolific Richard Topham.
In Division three Calder 76 Reserves have taken advantage of the demise of Luddenden Foot to switch their home games from the frequently waterlogged Brearley Playing Fields to Holmes Park.
They made a winning start on their new pitch with a 4-1 triumph over AFC Crossleys Reserves moving them five points clear of the bottom two.
Beevers hit both goals as Wadsworth United won 2-09 at Midgley United Reserves.
The local Sunday sides probably wish that the freeze had not broken.
Premier title hopefuls Spring Gardens beat Shoulder Royd 10-1, Stubbing Wharf lost 5-2 at Elland Sports and Albert Rovers were on the wrong end of a similar scoreline at Oddfellows in Division two.
In the Johnny McKenzie Senior Cup Brandy Wine lost 13-1 against Greetland CC and Hollins Holme were beaten 4-1 at Royal Hotel, Ackroyd netting their goal.
