There was little for Loan Watch to cast an eye on over the weekend, with all games involving on-loan Altrincham players postponed, bar one.

The exception was at Nantwich Town's Swansway Stadium, where an army of helpers performed miracles to beat the sub-zero temperatures and get their Pitching In Northern Premier League fixture on.

Armed with snow shovels, wheelbarrows, hot air blowers and even a machine dispensing a blue liquid to make the lines stand out, the volunteers toiled away for hours before standing back and allowing the referee to inspect their handiwork and pass the pitch as playable.

There were no such heroics from the players, though, as a Nantwich side missing the injured Aidan Roxburgh and with Ryan Morton on the bench went down to their heaviest defeat of the season, losing 4-0 to Stalybridge Celtic.

The Dabbers were already trailing by the time Ryan (pictured scoring for Alty Academy) went on as a 57th-minute replacement for James Caton, and despite the lively Robins frontrunner's best efforts to inject some urgency into a misfiring attack, Stalybridge coasted to victory to move three points clear of their hosts, who now have just four teams beneath them in the Premier Division table.