A shortage of referees has further affected the Holmen Iggesund Cumberland Amateur Rugby League this weekend.
Up to now the League have been splitting fixtures across Friday night and Saturday afternoons to make best use of the limited referees they have available.
But for this week-end only two games are going ahead because the League can only draw on two officials over the two days.
The League secretary Lorraine Degraffe said: “We are having a bit of a nightmare time as we only have two referees available this week-end – one for Friday and one for Saturday.
“It means that Kells A v Maryport (Friday) and Hensingham A v Distington (Saturday) are the only two fixtures that are going ahead.
“We are absolutely desperate for more referees so if anyone is interested in taking up the whistle we would more than welcome a call. I honestly believe the situation is getting critical.”
“I did speak to the RFL last week regarding referee availability and the possibility of using refs from other areas. However they advised me that this was not possible as it is the same situation in Yorkshire, Lancashire and Barrow with numerous games being called off in those areas due to a lack of match officials.”
It’s going to mean a slim weekend of action for local rugby league aficionados as none of Cumbria’s eight teams in the National Conference League have fixtures.
