Lowestoft Town were left to bemoan the winter weather once again last night as it accounted for their sixth consecutive postponement against Thurrock.

Joint manager Ady Gallagher admitted the referee had no choice but to call off the fixture after a snow storm in the early evening left the pitch unplayable.

'It's almost laughable to be honest, an hour before the match it was clear and we were all looking forward to a game,' said Gallagher, whose side last tasted league action in the victory against Lewes on January 12. 'On the way to the ground I wasn't worried because I thought the snow would stop in a minute but it didn't.

'It covered the pitch, we tried to clear the lines but the referee, rightly, has called the game off. Despite the fact the lines have been cleared there's no way the game could be played – it's too dangerous. It's the right decision but obviously a frustrating one for us.'

The Trawlerboys face the prospect of fitting in 24 league games in the space of 11 weeks with the Ryman League season scheduled to finish at the end of April.

Leaders Whitehawk have taken advantage of Lowestoft's inactivity to move clear of the Blues, who have got six games in hand. Gallagher admits his side face an almighty task to chase down the Sussex outfit, who they beat 3-1 on the opening day of the season.

'Our backs are to the wall now,' said Gallagher. 'There's times when you feel that call-offs have come at a good time for us – players maybe haven't been fit or we haven't got a full squad to choose from.

'But since the middle of January we've had almost a full squad to choose from but we haven't been able to play games. That's as frustrating as it gets but all we can is worry about ourselves and just concentrate.'

Lowestoft have had to clear fixture backlogs in their last two seasons in the Ryman League Premier Division and still managed to make the play-offs. Gallagher hopes that once their season finally does get underway again they can start climbing the table.

'It's happened to us before, probably not as bad as this, and it was a successful time for the club,' he said. 'I'm optimistic that once we do get playing that the boys will hit their stride and the table will look a lot healthier.'