Gaskell bagged a brace on Saturday to seal a 3-1 home win against AFC Liverpool and send Rammy back to the top of the North West Counties Premier Division.

Having seen a fire burn down the main stand at the Stags’ Dark Lane ground, local fears are that the football club may be unable to revive itself.

The home team, unbeaten since the start of November, had easily beaten their opponents by more than 40 points during the reverse fixture earlier in the season.

The Bacup boss last had a home game in November 26 and tomorrow’s clash at West View with Winsford is under threat due to the cold weather.

But despite appearances suggesting otherwise – Lam-Moores is wearing a giant protective boot on her left foot – the Rossendale handball player insists her Olympic ambitions are alive and kicking.

On a bright winter’s afternoon, the home side attacked the Merseysiders from the kick-off, and had the ball in the net after just three minutes, only for the referee to disallow it for a push by Ian Flannery.

Defender Wager was given his marching orders for leaving the field of play without permission, but it was alleged by the opposition that he did so in order to relieve himself by the side of the pitch.

The school’s year 11 football team progressed through to third round of the Lancashire Cup with a narrow 3-2 victory over Burnley and Rossendale Grammar School.

The 21-year-old was one of eight skiers who train at Rossendale and were representing the north west.

The reward for hours of practice was seen in the Senior British Championships, held at the English Institute for Sport in Sheffield on Sunday.

The Mohawks have sprung one or two surprises on better teams this season so Raptors were expecting a challenge, however Raptors were up to the task and won a competitive game 91-77.

And the Free Press has teamed up with the race organisers to create a ‘ Race within a Race’ for entrants living in our newspaper catchment area, with a prize for our first local male and female finisher.

With an extremely stiff breeze dictating the play, Dale began strongly.

The confidence with which the team took into the contest was there for all to see.

With this in mind, several people from local businesses have agreed to support and volunteer their time to resurrect the u-15s Rossendale Town Team.

The Rams have lived up to their pre-season hype and with Johnson’s squad virtually fully fit, they are well placed to go for the league title.

Fire crews were unable to save the derelict ground and plans to revive the club as Rossendale FC may now have hit a snag with Dark Lane arguably the perfect location for a regrouping and rebirth.

With leaders Bootle not playing this weekend, the Rams have the chance to go back to the top of the table when they host Silsden.

Darlington Mowden Park strengthened their grip on top spot by following up their 34-12 win over Rossendale with a win at Birkenhead Park last weekend.

The Rossendale side, Stockport Falcons and Middlesbrough Lions are all battling it for the two promotion places with the Falcons playing twice over the weekend to take over at the top of the league from the Raptors.

With this thought, on a surprisingly firm pitch, Dale came flying out of the blocks against a young Burnage side and made sure they kept the pressure on at the top of the table.

Rossendale born and bred, Peters has spent some of the best years of his life at the now ravaged ground.

In a statement, the NWCL said: "I’m sure everyone around our league was saddened to hear the news about the fire at Dark Lane."

A victory over one of their rivals on a bitterly cold afternoon was earned after a battling 90 minutes against a physical Runcorn side on a rutted and slippy surface.

With the London 2012 Olympics nearing, Rossendale Leisure Trust are keen to support Rossendale’s rising stars in their ambitions to be the best.

The North West Counties side haven't played at home since November 26 due to the weather and so have organised a game against a representative team from the International Academy.

But there were no such complaints this time out as a dominant first-half display secured the Rams three goals and three points as they chalked up a comfortable 3-1 win over Maine Road.

Their 116-41 victory over Mersey Tigers on Saturday took them to the summit and, with two teams promoted, the task is to remain there.

It was a fitting end to a great day’s sport in which the Valley club more than held their own against some of the best athletes in the county.

And manager Brent Peters was furious that the same individual – who he didn’t want to name – had produced two errors which led to the defeat.

The Raptors ran riot against an under-strength Mersey Tigers side at Haslingden Sports Centre, chalking up a 116-41 victory.

Brent Peters’ side beat Flixton on December 11 with Adrian Bellamy scoring the only goal.

The first half belonged entirely to the Rams as the visitors looked decidedly out of sorts.

Rossendale United were expelled from the North West Counties Premier last summer due to financial problems.

And 24 hours later their Senior Colts side, who are Under-19s, could move a big step closer to winning their own league title as they visit Southport.

The Rossendale Special Olympic Ski team has only to get through one more set of trials in Italy this month and they will have made it.

So far Dale have looked bright in National League 3 North and talk is beginning to turn to the prospect of promotion, something director of rugby, Simon Bond, is keen to play down.

With Monday’s home game against AFC Blackpool postponed, Borough have only seen one game go ahead since December 3 – the Boxing Day defeat at Ramsbottom. Peters felt his players were looking flat in training but all that changed on Monday.

Once again, their lack of finishing power proved their downfall as they peppered the Squires Gate goal in the final 20 minutes but were unable to find a way through the resilient defence.

With the deadlines for applications to the Evo-Stik First Division North approaching, the Rams have already had the thumbs-up from the Evo-Stik League as they had their ground graded last season.

"He will be a good acquisition to an already strong bowling squad," said captain Jon Fielding, whose side won the Worsley Cup and the Twenty20 competition last season but the Lancashire League title eluded them after winning it in 2010.

The mechanic from Edenfield has set his sights on competing at the world-famous TT races within the next three years. But first the 24-year is tackling one of the leading championships in the UK, the Michelin Power Cup.

Since then the club built on the strong foundation laid over the last couple of years and has grown enormously.

Ironically his last booking was picked up against Bacup and Peters was also without the services of Adam Turner, Gareth Wager, Tommy Turner and Kingsley Williams.

A healthy crowd of 328 braved the elements to watch the clash at the Harry Williams Riverside Stadium.

The Rams added Jordan Hulme to their side just before Christmas – and already have a 25-man squad at the Riverside as they go for top spot.

The Borough boss has pulled off a transfer coup by persuading all-action midfielder Aaron Hevingham to leave league rivals Flixton, where he was captain.

But she has never been one to do things the easy way throughout her life.

Fortunately for the former Rawtenstall schoolgirl, it won’t ruin her chances of competing at the 2012 Games.

The Raptors, with playmaker and top-scorer Steven Gayle, showed their strength in depth but did make hard work of beating bottom club Oldham Titans on Saturday.

Last season, Dale were beaten easily at Sandal but this time they enjoyed victory in arguably one of the toughest away fixtures in the league.

Johnson’s Ramsbottom United side haven’t played since a 5-3 win over Ashton Athletic on December 3 due to postponements over the last two weekends. And Bacup have also been kicking their heels since that afternoon, when Adrian Bellamy’s penalty gave them a 1-0 win at Flixton.

Leary, who trains at Rossendale Boxing Club, beat London-based fighter Michael Courtney to become the Senior Novice ABA National Champion in Portsmouth on Saturday.

In his first competitive match, Logan beat two opponents – one of whom turned out to be five grades higher than himself.

Johnson and joint-manager Bernard Morley have had their sights set on promotion since taking charge in 2009. But their first full season saw Newcastle Town romp to the league title with the Rams fourth, while last term they finished second behind New Mills.

Having seen off a dire November with a win at high-flying Flixton, things are looking up for Brent Peters’ side as they sit 12th in the table with games in hand over their nearest rivals.