FOOTBALL HIT BY THE WEATHER: MANY GAMES OFF. NO PLAY FOR EXETER CITY AND TORQUAY.

Saturday January 28th 1961:

Bad weather all over England hit the programme of Soccer and Rugby League football. The F.A.Cup-ties at Newcastle (waterlogged pitch) and Huddersfield (snow) were called off and the games at Leicester and Luton were stopped at half-time. In addition several League matches were cancelled, and the one at Derby was abandoned after 38 minutes.

Exeter and Devonshire also had their share of snow, and the match which was arranged to be played at St James's Park, a "friendly" between the City and Torquay United, was not played.

• Barnstaple Town's home game with Exeter City Reserves for Western League points, was first put off and then put on again. The kick off was delayed for twenty minutes as the referee changed his mind concerning the waterlogged pitch at Mill Road and decided in the end to make a start and to see how things went.
  
  
  

Barnstaple Town:- Elliott; Cleverly and Spearman; Reynolds, Davis, and Williams; Fewings, Marshall, Purvis, Buchanan, and Hulland.

Exeter City Reserves:- Bearpark; Turner and Whitnall; Gordon, Harvey, and Grant; P.Williams, Bond, Wilson, Bennett, and Harrison.

In spite of the heavy ground both teams swung the ball about very strongly but for most of the duration of the first half neither goal was endangered. Coming out of goal Bearpark failed to hold a high shot from Purvis but the ball stuck in the mud enabling the young goalkeeper to get it to safety. The second half opened with a strong Barnstaple attack from which Fewings sent the ball behind. Marshall scored after ten minutes, and in the end Barum won by 3 goals to nil.