CLITHEROE boss Simon Haworth is unhappy with the Lancashire Football Association as his side hit the trophy trail again at Shawbridge tonight (7.45pm).

The Blues are facing a growing fixture pile-up after their Lancs FA Trophy semi-final against Radcliffe Borough was called off at the County Ground last Tuesday and re-scheduled for March 15.

Haworth, whose side face Scarborough Athletic in the last eight of the Integro League Cup tonight, said: “It is their (Lancs FA) trophy and they should make it work better because the whole thing has turned into a bit of shambles.

“It is a fantastic ground at Leyland with brilliant facilities, but as far as I’m aware they only play a certain number of games on it a season, so you think it should be okay.

“It seems that the main priority is given to Blackburn Rovers’ Under-23s, who stage their fixtures there, and that’s fair enough.

“However, they have great facilities at Brockhall, so why couldn’t the FA ask them to play there instead during the fortnight scheduled for the semi-final ties and save the pitch at Leyland.

“The Lancashire FA have had long enough to plan it, and while I accept that we’ve had a prolonged spell of wet weather, it seems that the clubs who are trying to gain a bit of success are getting penalised.”

Haworth claimed Clitheroe were informed that the tie would go ahead 24 hours later after the original tie was postponed a week ago, but that fell foul of the weather too.

“I was unhappy that a lot of players had taken extra time off work on Wednesday, then to be told that there would be no game,” added Haworth.

“I’m not on my own, there’s a lot of frustration from the four clubs in the competition.

“We’ve all worked incredibly hard to get this far and what has happened with the semi-final tie is very disappointing.”

Lancashire Football Association spokesman Darren Swarbrick said: “Whilst my sympathies are offered to Clitheroe FC for any inconveniences caused by the rain, we have a responsibility to all involved to ensure the safety of the players on the pitch.

“With that in mind, at each occasion we have arranged for pitch inspections to ensure that the pitch surface is playable, and we try to give as much notice as possible.

“The following postponements for County Ground fixtures have been issued over the past fortnight: Challenge Trophy semi finals: Ashton Athletic v Chorley and Radcliffe Borough v Clitheroe, Blackburn Rovers U23s Premier League 2 fixture against Sunderland, the CW Berry U15 County Youth Cup Final BAC/EE v Cherrybrook and the Association of Northern Counties Lancashire v Westmorland.

“Last night’s scheduled tie of Blackburn Rovers U23s versus Fulham U23s was also called off, a decision made yesterday by the appointed match official.

“There is no preference given to level of football, if the pitch is playable on the day then the game will go ahead. At each postponement we have ensured that a suitably qualified match official has made the final decision on the pitch.”