A DEDICATED team of volunteers dug out shovels on Saturday morning in a desperate attempt to allow Irvine Meadow's scheduled crunch Premier Division match against Glenafton Athletic to go ahead.

However their attempts were in vain as the game, like all others in Ayrshire, fell victim to the big freeze.

The pitch was covered in snow following Friday afternoon's blizzard-like conditions.

An early morning appeal was put out on the club's Twitter page on Saturday, calling on supporters to head along to Meadow Park and clear the pitch and they started arriving from around 8.

Although they were not able to not clear enough snow to allow the game to go ahead, part of the pitch was cleared to allow a training session to take place, with new manager Davie Greig even picking up a shovel to lend a hand.

The session featured some passing drills although there were a few amusing moments as the players struggled to keep their feet in the wintry conditions.

Chairman Robert Jeffrey said: "We really wanted the game to go ahead as we needed it. before our Scottish Cup tie against Linlithgow on Saturday. Twenty people came along and we appreciate their support, although your really needed 100 for it to have a any chance of the game going ahead. But at least a third of it was cleared and that allowed us to have a training session."

Greig added: "It was disappointing that the game was off. But it says a lot about our fans that they came along on a day like this try and clear the pitch. At least wer were able to organise a training session which will help our preparations for the cup tie."