I HAD it all so well planned. First to Horwich to see the opening phase of the match against Farnworth SC, then to the Reebok to watch the Wanderers annihilate Burnley, and finally back to the Recreation Ground for the exciting denouement from which one or other of the two sides would emerge triumphant, after a thrilling last-over run-chase. In my dreams!

The first part went more or less according to plan. David White and Danny Payne opened for Horwich against a Circle attack handicapped by Dean Eckersley's injury, and the Horwich pro set the tone by driving Darlington's first delivery straight for four.

The only other time I had seen Payne in action was in the Jubilee Cup-tie against Egerton, when he won the match largely off his own bat, with an unbeaten 70-odd.

On that occasion he had been devastating with anything pitched remotely short, less so against deliveries or a fuller length, and now, by concentrating on the latter, either by accident or design, Darlington and Mulligan were keeping him relatively quiet.

As result, he played the more passive role, while White kept the board moving with another two or three imperious drives to the boundary, and when it was time for us to move down the road the opening pair, at 24 for nothing, seemed to be laying the foundation for a decent total.

We returned three hours later having discovered that watching David White bat (or anyone else come to that) is infinitely more rewarding than watching Farrelly and Passi operate in midfield! Horwich's innings had ended on 152 for six, and a glance at the scorebook appeared to indicate that each of the first six batsmen, with scores ranging between Payne's 31 and Long's 17 had played themselves in and then got themselves out.

Only one decent partnership, that of 50 between Jimmy Ainscough and Scott Woods had emerged, and Darlington had bowled throughout the innings, taking four wickets and going for less than 21 an over.

Social Circle's reply had just begun, but before very long Nigel Hallows had suffered yet another in the series of unfortunate dismissals that he conjures up whenever I watch him, when he was brilliantly caught one-handed by wicket-keeper Ainscough, diving to his right (his wrong side) to hold a delivery from Darren Preston. Ashworth and Davies took the total up to 33, at which point Ashworth was also very well caught by the keeper, and when Elliott edged a wide catch to Grant Long at slip, the captain, taking his cue from Ainscough, dealt with it in similar fashion. 'Catches win matches', the spectators were beginning to mutter, and certainly Horwich, without a League victory since that at Walkden on June 18, were in need of another!

They appeared to be heading towards it too, when Steve Davies was adjudged leg-before to Preston, but at 38 for four after 22 overs, the spits and spots turned into a steady drizzle and drove the players from the field. At that point Preston had taken three for 20 and White one for 18, with Richard Hope fortunate to have survived the simplest of caught and bowled chances offered to the professional, a slip that was to grow in significance as the innings progressed following the rain.

After an interval of somewhere around an hour, the game was resumed, but the disruption was to prove vital in the final points distribution, as there was never going to be enough satisfactory light left in which to complete the 50 overs.

On resumption, the wicket, although covered, had become livelier, causing much shaking of the fingers and glaring disapproval from the batsmen! Certainly it accounted for Tonge, who got one that popped and provided Ainscough with his third victim, and when Darlington found Danny Payne at deep widish mid-off with an accurate chip worthy of Tiger Woods himself, Circle were in deep trouble at 41 for six.

But that proved to be Horwich's final success, as Hope, finding a willing partner in Christian Walsh, got his head over the ball and defied everything that White and Preston could throw at him. Long replaced Preston, and, as the light began to fade, Andy Taylor was introduced into the attack, possibly in a desperate attempt to get through the final few overs before we were actually playing by the light of the moon!

It was to no avail, however, and as the umpires went together for the first, and as it turned out, last time, with five overs left unbowled, the two batsmen marched briskly off, leaving the rather more disconsolate Horwich fielders to follow them at their leisure.

I was left with two thoughts. Firstly, when are these two sides, who have jointly won only three of their last 20 games going to get back to winning ways? And secondly, it's looking as though it's going to be a long winter at the Reebok!