Source: Evo-Stik League
FC United of Manchester's fans won the thanks of their play-off chasing side on Saturday after answering an emergency call on social media to clear Gigg Lane of snow so their Evo-Stik Northern Premier League clash with Blyth Spartans could go ahead.
After their earlier exertions, supporters had to wait for two late goals to secure a 2-1 win in the only fixture in the Evo-Stik NPL's three divisions to beat the big freeze as snow again blanketed large parts of the country.
FCUM say their fans made sure their team had a chance to bounce back from three defeats on the spin by turning out in force after the club's media department put out an appeal for volunteers with shovels and brushes, swinging into action via the club's website and Twitter and Facebook accounts before securing coverage on local and national radio.
The Evo-Stik NPL outfit's Press Officer Andy Walker said fans did such a good job that the pitch, pictured before and after their efforts, was clear and fit to play by 10.30am despite the heavy snowfall in the Manchester area on Friday and overnight.
Fans later earned their perfect reward, Mike Norton equalising and Tom Greaves grabbing the winner in the final ten minutes to cancel out a 12th minute Joe Kendrick goal and strengthen the fifth placed club's play-off bid.
Walker said: "We put out a call for help via our website, Twitter and Facebook and also managed to get some coverage on BBC Five Live, TalkSport and Radio Manchester. With no big freeze we knew that if we could get the pitch clear of snow then the game would definitely go ahead.
"We had a great response from our supporters who turned up with their shovels and brushes and finished the job in quick time. Thankfully, the players did their bit too by winning the game to put us right back in the play-off mix."
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