GRIMSBY Town midfielder Scott Brown says he expects to miss Saturday's showdown with leaders Barnet, but hopes his comeback isn't too far away now.

The 29-year-old has been sidelined with a knee injury that he picked up a month ago – coincidentally in Town's 3-1 victory over the Bees at Blundell Park.

He admits he's cut a frustrated figure since then after being forced to miss crunch clashes against the Conference's big-hitters.

And while he's all-but ruled himself out of Saturday's return trip to The Hive, he's in high spirits and believes he could be back in contention for the visit of Braintree the following weekend.

Speaking to the Telegraph, he said: "I've been joining in training over the last two days – only parts of it – but thankfully I've had no reaction, which has been a really big boost to me and I'm feeling good.

"I'm not feeling the pain in my knee so much now – it's only with certain movements that I'm feeling it and hopefully that means that I'm getting there.

"It's never nice to be sat on the sidelines, especially when you're playing the better teams – it's soul destroying to be honest. You want to be in contention every week and this has been a set-back, but hopefully that's the end of it now.

"I don't think I'll be right for the weekend against Barnet, but fingers crossed, by the weekend after, I should be back in contention, which would be huge for me."

Town have won just two of their five games during Brown's absence and have suffered back-to-back defeats to Forest Green and Bristol Rovers.

"We haven't the results we wanted over the last two games," he acknowledged.

"I hate not playing and it has been tough to watch those games instead of being involved.

"But the squad is good enough to cope without me and I'll just keeping working hard to get right."

He added: "Barnet are having a bit of a wobble at the minute and they'll be missing their main man in John Akinde, so it's a big boost for us.

"If we go there and can get our game right, then I'm confident we can come away with the three points."

LARA Dyson experienced both highs and the lows at the recent British Dressage Northern Winter Regional Championship

In the event, held at Bishop Burton College, she eventually qualified two of her Cyden Stallions for the Winter Championships.

But with all three Cyden Stallions competing, it was a busy few days for Dyson and her team.

First into the arena was NWPCS-approved pony stallion, Cyden Oostings Amigo.

Stepping up a level to elementary, Amigo didn't disappoint in a strong class, finishing second with just over 69 per cent to secure his place at the Winters.

Consistent as ever at regional level, KWPN-approved Cyden Cadans M turned in an impressive display to take second in the advanced medium restricted – with 68.90 per cent.

Dyson was the first to admit that rider error let down KWPN-approved Cyden Bodyguard Moorland, by missing out three of the compulsory movements.

It was particularly disappointing, given what might have been, as Bodyguard was still awarded 68.67 per cent.

Dyson said: "I'm so proud of all three of my boys.

"I never expected to qualify little Amigo, for such a young pony, he just takes everything in his stride.

"Cadans always pulls it out of the bag when I need him to, he really is a star – and while Bodyguard was a bit hot to start with, he soon settled down.

"I was gutted that my mistake let him down, but it happens to us all."

She added: "Cadans and Amigo will now concentrate on training for the nationals and Bodyguard will now work on competing at Prix St Georges.

"It will challenge him and give him more to think about, so there are exciting and scary times ahead."

Cyden Cadans M and Cyden Bodyguard Moorland will be standing at Stallion AI Services for a limited time this summer, with frozen semen available from Cyden Oostings Amigo.

For further information, contact Lara Dyson on 07920 452739, or check out the Cyden Dressage Facebook page.

MARKET Rasen's first Sunday meeting of 2015 saw some decent fields in the seven races, the main exception being the feature chase of the afternoon.

It was the fourth race on the card – the £6,498 1stsecurity solutions.co.uk novices chase – won by Stopped Out, who made all to win in impressive style.

However, only five runners went to post.

The ten-year-old, who had James Reverley up, does not lack stamina and was kept on well from two out to get home by six lengths.

Richie McLernon was on board the Jonjo O'Neill trained Less Time in the fifth race, a handicap chase and the 7/1 favourite jumped impressively enough.

McClernon could take more of the limelight in the O'Neill stable from now on with Tony McCoy set to retire at or before the season's end.

McLernon has been an impressive jockey in his own right already, with a second in the Grand National among his most memorable moments.

McCoy was absent from Rasen, and seven different jockeys had winners on the card.

There were no runners to feature from any of our local trainers either.

The opening race saw ten runners for the EPDS Racing Welfare BTO Series Novices Hurdle with highly-rated trainer Charlie Longsdon saddling the six-year-old Our Kaempfer.

His useful bumper record and a third at Doncaster last time out were indications he will be up to similar form before long over the smaller obstacles.

The evens favourite was followed into the winner's enclosure by another favourite in Grimley Girl (5/4) who, with Jack Sherwood on board for trainer Henry Oliver, claimed the mares handicap hurdle.

Seven went to post and the winning distance was four and a half lengths.

Raktiman (8/1) ended the sequence of winning favourites in the third race when Jonathan England brought his mount home to win by four lengths.

The final chase – the Eric and Lucy Papworth Handicap Chase – saw five of the 11 runners pulled up, the testing ground on the soft side of good, probably being the reason.

Trafficker had Aiden Coleman up and the 15/2 shot led from two out and was kept up to his work to get home easily enough.

The next meeting at Market Rasen is on Sunday, March 8.

DMS player-manager Gary Nimmo was delighted after his make-shift side defeated Premier Division rivals Crows Nest 2-1.

The Immingham side are fourth in the table, having taken 13 points from seven games so far this season.

But they will have their work cut out to successful defend the top-flight title.

Nimmo said: "Both teams turned up at Blossom Way with a bare 11, a mixture of youngsters and some that were not so young!

"And we both played out a typically tough Sunday League encounter.

"A missed penalty and a man sent off were all part of the game, but Crows defended brilliantly all game and were unlucky to lose.

"Stefan Melin opened the scoring for us and it was not until late in the game that Crows Nest equalised when James Petronzio scored from the spot.

"Yours truly, the old grafter, made sure we took the points from the penalty spot just before the final whistle."

Nimmo added: "Next weekend we play Cromwell in what will be another tough one. We've got to win these games if we are to go on and remain champions."

Meanwhile, P&P Plumbing & Heating overcame fellow Division One contenders Cleethorpes Motors.

The game finished 2-1, and P&P secretary Paul West was pleased with the outcome ahead of Sunday's clash with Healing.

He said: "We started brightly, but Motors took the lead with a great finish.

"On two occasions, we went close to equalising through Matty Payne and Steve Davis, but they held on until half-time.

"Lewis Blakey then scored a fine equaliser, before Motors were reduced to ten-men.

"Lewis then hit a great individual goal to send us to the top of the league."

West added: "We now have six cup finals if we are to secure back-to-back promotions.

"No game is easy in this division, and we'll take them one at a time, starting next weekend with Healing."

A BRACE for Pete Fuller earned Premier Division leaders Pattesons three points against Cleethorpes United in a 2-1 victory.

Gareth Flint grabbed the consolation in a close, top-flight affair.

Meanwhile, hot in pursuit are Empire United (Shane Garvie 4, Daniel O'Hare 2, Alex Flett, Jack Richardson, Matthew Smith), who beat GTF Seas 9-3.

Both Pattesons and Empire are without a game at the weekend so must wait for further developments.

Elsewhere, BBS Valiant (Luke Mascall 3, Jason Chisnall) won 4-1 away to Cromwell (Ray Blain).

In Division One, Great Coates (David Fisher 2, Garry Spurr) won 3-1 away to Healing (Josh Plaskitt).

County Hotel (Jamie Glover 3, Daniel Simpson 2, Damon Harrison) beat Rose & Crown (Luke Higton) 6-1.

In Division Two, Alex Hollamby's goal was enough to secure victory for Bridge against Icelandic Seachill and take them to the top of the table.

In Division Three, The Farmhouse (Gary Cross, Ben Lonsdale, Thomas Staples) beat leaders Electrical Appliances Grimsby (Kyle French) 3-1.

Seaco United (Dale Brown, Andy Garland, Jamie Rowbotham) won 3-2 against Barnoldby (Callum Blythe 2).

GY Cars (Steven Grimbleby 2, Gareth Chandler, Jason Green) won 4-2 away to GY Scaffolding Services (Daniel Rice, Aaron Roberts) as they attempt to climb away from the bottom of the table.

In Division Four, Legbourne United (Robert McSpadden 2, Shane Ward, David Walmsley, Scott Short) are mounting a challenge after their 5-1 victory against Spiders Web.

BBS Valiant 2nds (Damien Zarzyna 3, Tom Bembrick, Sam Reed) won 5-1 away to Duke of Wellington.

In Division Five, Parkway FC won 4-0 against Seven Seas AFC, and RER Haulage (James Auckland, Richard Donner, Stuart Geddes) won 3-2 against Smugglers AFC.

In Division Six, Crows Nest 4ths (Taylor McKenna 2) beat Laceby Carpet Express 2-0. Winns 2nds won 4-2 against Nunsthorpe FC.

And in the Chairman's Invitation Cup Group Stages, Winns beat Big Jax Sports Bar 4-1 and finished top of their group with a 100 per cent record.

Following near misses by Louie Cockerill, Mikey Burton and Mike Smith, Smith scored with a bullet header. Smith scored again to make it 2-0 at half time.

Dan Wood then missed with a couple of chances before Jax got one back.

James Rouse then headed a Ryan Hornsby cross into roof of the net before Smith fired home his third and Winns' fourth.

Meanwhile, Cromwell Rovers (Jordan Burns 3) drew 3-3 with Waltham United, and Honest Lawyer (Dale Bennett, Anthony Leech, Gary Mitchell) drew 3-3 with Abatis Athletic (Nick Lacey, own goal, Ben Cowdroy).

Grimsby Rovers (Bailey Carpenter) won 1-0 away to Bluestone Blossom Way, while Clee Dynamoes (Will Adams 2, Hussam Abdelgabar, Zak Chajid) drew 4-4 with AA Property New Waltham (Chris Riley 2, Martin Nielsen, Keith Playford).

Crows Nest 3rds won 4-3 against Keelby United 2nds (Ashley Briggs 2, Peter Green), and RH Roofing (Paul Shaw, Ricky Smith) won 2-0 away to Grimsby Borough.

Grimsby Town Football Club is asking for your views as part of a consultation to ensure plans to relocate to Peaks Parkway are included in North East Lincolnshire Council's Local Plan.

The purpose of this exercise is to elicit opinion about the club's aims and objectives to relocate.

That is according to director John Fenty, who announced that three separate consultation events are to be held at a press conference this morning.

He added that while there has been "overwhelming support" for the club's plans so far, the message needs to be reinforced so that it can be included in the council's Local Plan - which looks to map out its aspirations for the economy and area.

These events will be held over the next three Sundays at the proposed site on Peaks Parkway, with the first scheduled for this Sunday starting at 11am.

1st consultation: Sunday, February 22 between 11am and 3pm

2nd consultation: Sunday, March 1 between 11am and 3pm

3rd consultation: Sunday, March 8 between 11am and 3pm

Some of the first team players will be on hand between noon and 1pm on each of the days to assist with the collecting of people's opinions.

A club statement read: "Make no mistake, this is your local plan. And it should contain what you want to see.

"We're in a six-week consultation period which ends on March 13 at 5pm.

"So far, in terms of the club relocating to Peaks Parkway, the objectors have had the biggest say.

"We are asking for people not to be complacent and ensure that the objectors don't have the biggest say among much of the misinformation being peddled.

"It is very important if you want to see the club progress and remain at the heart of the community for future generations, then let that be known there are several ways to have your say.

"The club will do its best to make this as simple as possible by suggesting several methods of how to do this.

"Don't be complacent, we need you to voice your opinion before March 13."

The online survey can be found at www.survey-me.com/take-a-survey/UK-NS-LP

Hard copies will also be made available.

Check tomorrow's Grimsby Telegraph for more on this.

Directions to the Peaks Parkway site 

Please note that there is no parking on the Peaks Parkway and the club suggests that visitors park in Peaks Lane. 

The YMCA have agreed to allow visitors to park in their Peaks Lane car park. There is a path near to the YMCA which leads to the Peaks Parkway. 

Please follow the path to the first footbridge and bear left, walking over the footbridge to the proposed stadium site. Please also be aware that vehicles left in the YMCA car park are left at the owners risk.

The National Lottery Lotto draw has been made for Wednesday February 18 2015 - so are you feeling lucky?

Tonight's jackpot was a cool £2.1m, plus 50 lotto raffle winners of £20,000.

The numbers were 21, 23, 25, 34, 42, 49 and the bonus ball was 30.

Good luck!

Several roads in Grimsby were plunged into darkness after a major power cut hit the area this evening.

Freeman Street, Hainton Avenue and Railway Street were affected by the outage.

The incident caused confusion on the roads as the set of traffic lights on the junction with Hainton Avenue and Pasture Street  had stopped working.

A spokesperson for Northern Powergrid said engineers are currently working on the incident and that power was expected to be restored by midnight.

Keep checking for updates.

MARINERS skipper Craig Disley hopes the club can finally up sticks from Blundell Park – even if he isn't around to see it.

Yesterday, director John Fenty announced plans for three consultation events as Grimsby Town continue to plot a relocation to Peaks Parkway.

It's hoped that will give the public a chance to air their views.

And Disley, 33, is under no illusions as to how important a move could be for the club, its players and the town as a whole.

He told the Telegraph: "Playing in a new stadium is great for any player.

"Obviously, it would be great for the town as a whole – and I think it is needed.

"Blundell Park has a lot of history, but as the years go on, you need to move with the times.

"A new stadium would help us do that, even if I don't get to see it in my playing career!

"For the future of the club as a whole, and on the playing side, the move would be great if it does come off."

Huddersfield Town, Chesterfield and neighbours Hull City, among others, have all enjoyed success since moving to their respective new stadiums.

And while that isn't guaranteed for the Mariners, Disley – whose side are currently locked in a Conference promotion battle – insists on and off-field success often go hand-in-hand.

He added: "For any player coming to the club – not just the young lads – the stadium is a massive selling point.

"If there was a new stadium here, it would help to up the calibre of player that may come to the club.

"And you only have to look at other clubs for the impact it can have.

"When you get a new stadium, it's often brought success.

"Fingers crossed that can be the same in our case, and hopefully we can enjoy that success pretty soon."

HAVING to pay to use public toilets, have their garden waste collected and a 1.98 per cent hike in council tax is only the "tip of the iceberg" for North East Lincolnshire residents.

The series of measures were "reluctantly" approved by the council's cabinet yesterday, as the authority battles to cope with continuing cuts to its funding from central government.

As reported at www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk yesterday, a charge of 30p is to be introduced for council-run public conveniences across the borough.

While householders will have to pay an annual fee of between £30 and £35 to have their brown bins collected. The council tax increase is included in the authority's budget for 2015/16, which will go before full council for final approval next Thursday.

Unless any of the opposition parties put forward a last-minute alternative to raise an extra £2 million, residents will be hit with an increase to the council element of their rates for the second successive year.

As previously reported, the council is having to cut its revenue budget by around £8 million next year.

And council bosses say that charging for some services is the only way to prevent them being scrapped altogether.

The authority had considered stopping garden waste collections in a bid to save £500,000 per year, but has decided to charge for the service instead, following the results of a public consultation.

Meanwhile the proposal to charge for public toilets came from a working group which was set up in the wake of a petition against plans to close the facilities in a bid to cut £120,000 from the council's budget.

Speaking at yesterday's cabinet meeting, Councillor Ray Oxby, portfolio holder for regeneration and skills, said: "This is just the forerunner of what is to come. These are basic services, admittedly discretionary ones, that the public expect, and this is the tip of the iceberg.

"It grieves me as a Labour politician that we are even considering this, but we have to be pragmatic and we have to be realistic. We are having to make difficult decisions on discretionary services."

Commenting as he voted to approve the budget, council deputy leader Mick Burnett said: "We are now having to impact on services that we thought we would never have to touch. This is not the making of this council. We have pinched the lowest plums and we now have to get the higher plums which are more difficult to catch and unfortunately it will have an impact on services.

"I will be supporting this with a heavy heart. There is no other option and I hope members of the public will understand that."

NORTH East Lincolnshire Council will not be alone in the extremely difficult decisions it has to make – both now and in the future.

The public sector in general has had to undergo a massive change as Central Government looks to cut back on spending – and we are not just talking about a few pence here!

Many, many millions of pounds have been taken from public bodies right across the country – although some will say they have come off worse than others.

The Government is challenging such organisations right across the country to ensure they are meaner and leaner with massive cultural and structural change required.

And there in hangs an enormous challenge for many. Over decades the public has come to rely on a certain level of service from such public bodies – they have an expectation that local authorities, in particular, will perform certain duties. And now, whether it is right or wrong, that is no longer going to be the case. This message is an extremely difficult one to get across to our communities, who will find it hard to come to terms with as we move forward.

WARM tributes have been paid to former dance teacher Frederick "John" Rowbotham.

Known as John to his friends, he died of pneumonia aged 82.

His death came just two days after he was awarded a Lifetime Membership from the Imperial Dance Society for his services to dance.

He also had to postpone his wedding in order to escort the Queen and defied medical odds by walking again and taking up dancing after suffering an injury that doctors said he would not recover from.

Paying tribute to John, his wife Joan, 83, and daughter Denise Miller, 56, said he was a true gentleman who lived to dance.

Born in Cleethorpes on July 3 1932, John was teaching dance up until September 2014.

John lost his mother aged 12 and from then on moved between different aunties.

He met his wife at Wellington Street Ballroom when he was just 16, and they celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary in 2013.

The couple moved to their home in Brian Avenue, Cleethorpes, where they lived for more than 50 years. They had one child Denise, two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

John's two greatest loves were dancing and gardening.

He was awarded a Fellowship from the Imperial Dance Society in May 2000 and in 2012 the couple won a competition for inventing their own dance.

In fact, they will be doing the dance at the Market Rasen Festival Hall this Sunday as a tribute to John.

Joan said the dance is very close to her heart.

John was a seaman on HMS Ganges and served as a gunner on Lord Mountbatten's ship.

It was because of the Royal Navy the couple had to postpone their wedding.

On the day they were due to marry, John had to escort the Queen home for the Spithead Review.

Joan said: "I was not impressed. But I suppose if you had to have an excuse to postpone a wedding the Queen is a good one."

The couple instead married on May 29, 1953.

The Queen was not the only famous face John met while in the Navy. He also met Vera Lynn, Prince Charles and Hailee Selassie to name a few.

John had to leave the Navy after being injured and was told he would never walk again.

After a year, he defied the odds and not only could he walk properly he also took up dancing.

Joan said his bad knee never stopped him from following his dreams.

"He never let anyone know he had a bad knee, that never stopped him.

"He was very determined."

The thing daughter Denise most remembers him for was that he was always impeccably turned out.

She said: "Dad was always wearing a suit and tie or dickie bow. He was very well dressed."

Joan recalls a time when a little boy asked John if he was on his way to a wedding because he looked so smart.

The couple went on several holidays and attended the Southport Dance Festival every year.

Kind messages have been pouring in from John's dance students telling of what a difference he made to their lives.

Joan believes it was his long and varied life that led to the numerous cards they had received.

John's funeral was held at the Grimsby Crematorium and saw 90 people come to pay their respects.

THE Lost Boys have found new premises in Cleethorpes.

Owner of the designer menswear outlet, Jackie Shaw, had first opened her shop in Cambridge Street back in 2013. And as business increased she wanted bigger storage and shop space along with a better location for her brands – and she found it at The Point, in Sea View Street.

Read the full story at cleethorpespeople.co.uk

AN EX-SKATER is to take to the ice again for a reunion event he hopes will reinvigorate Grimsby's threatened rink.

Alan Redgrift, from Grimsby, attended many of the ice discos at Grimsby Leisure Centre that proved so popular in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.

The 38-year-old has now organised his very own Ice Disco Reunion, which is set to take place next month.

He thinks the event will be a great way of supporting the ice rink, which reopened in September last year.

He said: "You just see so many kids sitting at home on their iPods and tablets, when they could be here. We need to get the place going again.

"The problem is I don't think a lot of people know the place is open.

"It all started for me back in the Eighties when I went ice skating at the discos. There was a DJ at the top, where the scoreboard is now, and there would be around 400 people there on the ice. It was absolutely rammed every time and sometimes it was so busy you couldn't get on.

"The place has been quite quiet recently, and it was sad to hear that there was a chance it could close. There's a lot of nostalgia in this place for me, but also for a lot of other people as well.

"This place used to be fantastic and I'm pleased to see it's still here."

As reported, a meltdown of the rink's ageing refrigeration system saw it close on June 6 last year, much to the dismay of the hundreds of skaters who use it.

There were fears it would never reopen, but at a meeting of North East Lincolnshire Council's cabinet on July 22, members agreed to invest around £200,000 in a new temporary ice pad.

Specialist firm Ice Tech UK was handed the contract to lay the pad, with work finishing at the start of September.

But with a new £8.4 million leisure centre currently being built – with no provision for an ice rink – there are fears there might not be one in the town for much longer.

Mr Redgrift added: "I used to be a steward on the ice as well where I picked up people who fell over – as you can imagine that kept me fairly busy. I got a few girlfriends that way as well.

"There are 400 tickets on sale to start with but we may look to increase that if there's enough interest.

"I've started a group on Facebook and we've had so much interest. There's so many names coming forward that I recognise, it's like a whole community.

"I've already been down here a few times just to practise again, and I took to it like a duck to water."

The Ice Disco Reunion is to take place at the Grimsby Leisure Centre's ice rink on Saturday, March 21, from 7.30pm to 11.30pm.

Tickets are on sale now. They cost £6 each and are available to purchase from the leisure centre or by calling on 01472 323100.