Which is why Jordan Clark has turned down a winter in the sun in favour of slogging his guts out in the Old Trafford indoor school.

Last weekend’s meeting with Runcorn Linnets again fell foul of the weather, meaning the club’s only result from a frosty January was a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Winsford United.

Hosting underdogs Durham City at Shawe View, the North fell behind after just seven minutes and despite overturning the deficit to lead through goals from Steve Mason and Paul Ashton, Garry Vaughan’s side surrendered their lead to lose 3-2 and come away empty handed.

Phoenix have taken 19 points from the last 22 and lie joint second in the English Premier League table.

The hosts were first out of the blocks when Ashton conceded a penalty after three minutes and following a kick to touch, Sale secured the line out. Taylor Welch broke through a gap in the visitors’ defence to score under the posts.

The hosts started the better, going into a 14-0 lead after only 15 minutes. AK though then started to get a grip of the game and after going close on a couple of occasions, a well worked switch move saw winger JP Singleton go over for a try. Chris Stewart converted and AK went into half time only 14-7 down.

Teenager Jay joined some of Britain’s brightest motor racing prospects at the Porsche Human Performance Centre for their exclusive ‘Get Race Fit’ event on January 21.

Following Saturday’s final LV Cup group game at home to Scarlets, Sale face three crucial Premiership games before the month is out with home games against struggling Worcester and Wasps being sandwiched by a trip to Northampton.

Garry Vaughan’s men beat Woodley Sports 2-0 last weekend to make it three wins from three this year – all against teams that were above them in the table.

The team failed to turn up on the day and a much more determined Oldham side earned a narrow victory.

There he will team up with former Red Rose captain Stuart Law, who is coaching the franchise, and his assistant Jason Swift who used to be an analyst at Old Trafford.

Didsbury-based Steele considered quitting but has now announced a career saving deal with Trafford Park company CHEP, the world’s leading provider of pallet and container pooling solutions.

Their nine-match unbeaten record was snapped by table-topping Guildford on Sunday but coach Tony Hand is far from ready to hand over the title.

Reeves upstaged his seemingly Morecambe-bound strike partner Jack Redshaw, who also scored in a 5-2 win.

While Morrison was disappointed with the result, he felt the scoreline flattered Winsford.

Hoylake, with a strong wind at their backs, made early inroads into Sale territory but it wasn’t long before the hosts countered with a break by Andy Rowley taking play back into the visitors’ 22.

Playing with the strong wind AK opened the scoring when Callum Yates charged down an attempted Lymm clearance and kicked ahead to score.

Although finances are still tight at the club, the county champions are hoping to add to their squad as they look to successfully defend their title.

Missing captain Ben Wheeler following his dismissal the previous week, MV were going to have to take the game to the opposition and play the game in enemy territory.

The hockey ace, who plays for Bowdon Hightown, is preparing with the rest of the Great Britain squad for the Champions Trophy which is being held in Argentina at the end of this month.

Blues academy graduate Redshaw spent the early part of this week training with League Two Morecambe after Alty gave him permission to go there with a view to securing a permanent move.

The heavy pitch did not favour open play and both sides found themselves bogged down in a stalemate around the halfway line during the opening twenty minutes.

It ended with Sale remaining the only club in the top eight levels of English rugby with the perfect record of sixteen bonus point wins from 16 games.

Bradford started well and were soon 6-0 up after two penalties. AK responded strongly with Rob Holloway kicking a penalty and then going over for a try to put AK in front 8-6. On half-time, Bradford regained the lead with a converted try to give them a 13-8 lead.

The group finale will effectively be a winner-takes-all shoot-out with the sting in the tail that Sale have to beat their top 14 opponents by eight points or more to leapfrog Brive in the table and seal a place in the quarter-finals.

After taking four points from table-toppers Curzon Ashton and Witton Albion, the weekend’s thrashing was icing on the cake for a club who are now unbeaten in five games.

With Morrison currently away from the club on holiday, trusted coach Zeki Istanbul has been brought in to cover first-team affairs, with defender Whitehead as his right-hand man.

The 34-year-old ex-Blackburn and Preston central defender, who had signed for Alty only hours earlier from North West Counties League Clitheroe, pulled up with what appeared to be a hamstring injury and was replaced by Nicky Clee when it became clear he could not continue.

European imports Ladislav Harabin and Martin Cingel have been producing the goods all season but now Jaroslav Spelda and Juraj Faith have started to deliver the form the Phoenix player-coach expected when he signed them.

A 15th consecutive win leaves the Heywood Road outfit unbeaten in the league and 22 points clear at the summit.

After getting their European campaign off to the worst possible start by losing in Brive in early November, three successive bonus point wins have put the Sharks back in the driving seat in terms of topping their group and reaching the last eight.

Despite ending their 77-year wait for an outright title last season, the opening batsman has revealed winter training among the Red Rose squad has been even more intense this time around. And it is all aimed at ensuring the amazing title triumph isn’t a one-off, but the start of a spell of continual success.

So perhaps it is not surprising that his club has chosen him as their captain for the next 12 months.

Alty suffered yet another of the form lapses which have so far littered their season in losing to a Bloods side whom they had thrashed 5-1 at Moss Lane on Boxing Day.

The 18-year-old Sale Harriers Manchester prospect (left) cleared 4.16 metres in France to establish a new Under-20s indoor best. And Byres, one of four Sale youngsters to be awarded funds from the Arts and Sports Trust, only narrowly failed at 4.26m.

They were helped on their way by Robins’ defender Adrian Hawes as early as the sixth minute.

Over 5,000 runners have already signed up for the race and the initial target of 8,000 runners on Sunday April 29 looks like it will be reached with months to spare.

Last weekend's decisive 41-21 Amlin Cup demolition job on Agen made it three wins from three in December for the Sharks and another victory against the Falcons would not complete a perfect month but would also fire Sale back into the top four of the Premiership going into the New Year.

After being surprise leaders of the North West Counties Premier early in the campaign, the Lions have slipped to seventh.

One of Tiger Tiger’s karaoke rooms was booked for the evening and Bamber Bridge threatened to be party poopers after Darren Green’s 40th-minute opener.

Sara Bayman was part of the England team that defeated the two giants of world netball – Australia in the semi-final and New Zealand in the final – to clinch the title at the Liverpool Echo arena last weekend.

The rocking Robins return to Blue Square Bet North action following an 11-day break with a trip to bottom-of-the-table Blyth Spartans this weekend.

First up this Sunday, the Sharks play host to French side Agen in their latest Amlin Cup group clash where another victory on the back of last week’s notable 29-14 triumph in France would further boost their hopes of reaching the quarter-finals.

The home side started strongly and opened the scoring on six minutes when second row John Lloyd barged over from short range.

The Phoenix owner has come in for some criticism by a minority of supporters upset that the team has not reached the heights of last season when they ended up winning the English Premier League.

The visitors started the brighter, applying much of the early pressure and were soon camped in the Glossop 22.

After initial AK pressure from the kick off, Morley used the strong wind to create good field position from where their left winger went in for an unconverted try after six minutes.

Garry Vaughan has tied down the in-form striker, until the end of the season, with the club having an option for a further year.

While Morrison admits the Lions didn’t deserve to beat Bacup Borough, he felt their performance merited at least a point.

Last season the Lancashire all-rounder became the first Old Trafford captain to lead his troops to the outright County Championship title in 77 years.

MV started brightly and early possession allowed Tom Armstrong to open a gap. Swift interpassing gave winger Jamie Kingdon a clear 20 yard sprint for the posts. Fullback Ben Wheeler converted for a 7-0 lead.

The Robins had won just one of their eight away games in the Blue Square North ahead of Saturday’s trip to face FC Halifax Town.

But it was a tight tussle with Sale eventually emerging with a vital 2-1 victory.

Mike devoted his life to the club and without him Ashton would not be where they are today. All three teams paid their respects with a minute’s silence before their games.

Tony Hand’s team has been badly hit by injuries and have lost nine games in regulation so far this term – one more than they lost in the entire campaign last season.

The Amlin Cup group clash in southern France has turned into a virtual shoot-out with both clubs having already tasted defeat by Brive. It means the stakes are deliciously simple for Sale.

After a superb start to the season, which saw the Lions become surprise leaders of the North West Counties Premier Division, the wheels have come off for Morrison’s men.

Grace, 16, from Altrincham, has just returned from Cadiz in Andalusia with a brace of medals against the cream of the world’s young fighters.

Altrincham were dumped out of the FA Trophy by Evo-Stik Premier FC United on Sunday, prompting chairman Grahame Rowley to issue a plea to supporters not to criticise Sinnott and his players.

Dukinfield, currently in seventh place in South Lancashire & Cheshire Division 2, came with nothing to lose and started the game in positive fashion as they moved into home territory and from a line-out on the Sale 22 executed a driving maul to take play within a couple of metres of the Sale line.

The 21-year-old British centre scored four goals last weekend as Phoenix won one and lost one against Basingstoke and Slough. But Duggan was magnificent in both games despite being sick on the bench against the Jets in Altrincham on Sunday.

From a seemingly impregnable 20-0 lead, Sale somehow contrived to lose last Friday’s Premiership encounter with Exeter 30-23 – a result which Diamond described as one of the biggest disappointments in his 20 year career as a player and coach.