England's opening Euro 2012 game ended in stalemate as they played out a low-key draw with France in Donetsk.

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Joleon Lescott gave England the lead with a header from captain Steven Gerrard's free-kick - but France were level before the interval with a fine 20-yard finish from Lescott's Manchester City team-mate Samir Nasri.
It was a game that dulled the early sparkle of this tournament, and was played out in searing temperatures inside the Donbass Arena by two teams who may well take satisfaction from a point from their first game.
James Milner wasted an early chance for England, while new manager Roy Hodgson was grateful to goalkeeper Joe Hart for a fine block from Alou Diarra's header.
Hodgson made the bold choice of Arsenal teenager Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain ahead of Stewart Downing. Opportunities for him to shine were rare but he can be pleased with his efforts in strength-sapping conditions.
Karim Benzema carried France's greatest threat after the break and a late save from Hart ensured England go into their second game against Sweden in Kiev on Friday unbeaten.
Once again England were tactically disciplined and highly organised - an early trademark under Hodgson since he succeeded Fabio Capello.
And the manager knows this was a game safely negotiated as he waits for the return of striker Wayne Rooney after he completes his suspension against Sweden.
England's preparation for Euro 2012 were disrupted by injuries - and not even Hodgson's backroom staff were safe as veteran coach Ray Clemence injured himself in the warm-up and had to be carried off.
The failure to cut the supply line to Nasri did not cost England when he pulled an early shot wide.
England created the best opportunity of what was some early sparring, played out in an occasionally eerie silence in this giant arena. Such was the lack of noise from the stands that players could constantly be heard shouting instructions.
"England scored and the French came into the ascendancy, with England dropping deeper and deeper and they paid the ultimate price. Scott Parker and Steven Gerrard should have been where Samir Nasri was for the goal, they were too deep and then could not get to him in time. Roy Hodgson will be delighted with that result though."
Ashley Young played in Milner behind the ponderous France central defensive pair of Adil Rami and Philippe Mexes. He evaded goalkeeper Hugo Lloris but found the angle too acute and failed to hit the target.
Oxlade-Chamberlain was not seeing a great deal of possession - and he was yellow carded for a foul on the outstanding right-back Mathieu Debuchy. However, one impressive change of feet and a pass that found Young just offside hinted at his rich potential.
England took the lead on the half-hour when captain Gerrard's inviting free-kick was headed by past Lloris by Lescott after he escaped his marker Diarra.
It was an advantage they held for only nine minutes, paying the price for carelessness in possession.
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Diarra almost made amends for his part in Lescott's goal with a point-blank header that was blocked by Hart, before Nasri was able to take control. He was not put off by Gerrard's attempted challenge and scored low to Hart's right from 20 yards.
France visibly grew in confidence as the interval approached and both Hart and Ashley Cole combined to block Benzema as he closed in on the angle.
Benzema once again demonstrated his danger with a powerful drive that was saved by Hart - but this came in the middle of cagey, attritional exchanges. Glen Johnson was also forced into a timely penalty area interception as Benzema threatened once more.
Hodgson made a double change with 13 minutes left when he sent on Jermain Defoe for Oxlade-Chamberlain and Jordan Henderson for the visibly tiring Scott Parker.
England were grateful for a crucial Danny Welbeck deflection that took Yohan Cabaye's shot wide as France continued to play with the greater momentum.
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Hodgson's side continued to show resilience to get the reward for a dogged display - and they can look forward to taking the next step in Euro 2012 against Sweden.
France: Lloris, Debuchy, Rami, Mexes, Evra, Nasri, Cabaye (Ben Arfa 84), Diarra, Malouda (Martin 84), Ribery, Benzema.
Subs Not Used: Mandanda, Giroud, Matuidi, Reveillere, Menez, M'Vila, Valbuena, Clichy, Koscielny, Carrasso.
Goals: Nasri 39.
England: Hart, Johnson, Terry, Lescott, Cole, Milner, Gerrard, Parker (Henderson 77), Oxlade-Chamberlain (Defoe 77), Young, Welbeck (Walcott 90).
Subs Not Used: Green, Carroll, Baines, Jones, Jagielka, Downing, Butland.
Booked: Oxlade-Chamberlain, Young.
Goals: Lescott 30.
Attendance: 42,000
Referee: Nicola Rizzoli (Italy).


Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull confirmed on Tuesday his intent to dissolve parliament and hold an early election on 2 July.

This sets the scene for a mammoth election campaign that unofficially begins now, 74 days out from the proposed poll date.
It's early days but already a number of policy and leadership themes are emerging. Mr Turnbull's decision to call a double dissolution election has ramifications for Australia's upper house, the Senate, too.
Australia's constitution allows for an early election to be called when the upper house, called the Senate, twice blocks a piece of legislation that has been passed by the lower house, the House of Representatives. Although ostensibly designed to resolve political deadlocks, in practice it has largely been used opportunistically by governments who see an advantage in going to the polls early.
The rejected legislation in this case is the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) bill, which seeks to re-establish a watchdog to monitor union activity in the construction industry. Although the government is insisting the bill is important enough to warrant calling a double dissolution, the opposition and most pundits believe that the decision is more about politics than policy.
Both sides will reveal their platforms over the coming weeks, but the broad campaign brushstrokes are already there to see.
The government will centre its campaign on economic management credentials. It will position itself as the party best placed to transition Australia from the mining boom through to a new phase of economic growth.
Even its attack on the unions with the ABCC bill is being framed as an economic issue and this line of attack will likely fall away as the campaign progresses. The 3 May budget will provide clarity on the government's economic plan.
Labor, conversely, will run on a "people first" platform of health, education and nation building, while also making cost savings in the budget. Opposition Leader Bill Shorten is also lobbying hard for a Royal Commission into banks.
Despite operating under the Westminster system, Australia's election campaigns tend to have a presidential flavour. So the popularity of the prime minister and opposition leader will be a key factor in determining the winner.
Mr Turnbull is the clear frontrunner here. Well known to Australians through his prominent public life as a barrister and advocate for the republic movement, he maintains a handy lead over Mr Shorten as preferred prime minister. It was Mr Turnbull's popularity with the electorate that prompted the Liberal party to dump Tony Abbott as its leader.
But Mr Shorten has narrowed the gap on his opponent over recent months and at this stage appears to be running a more disciplined campaign. He'll need to prove himself against Mr Turnbull in one-on-one debates later on, but the seasoned parliamentary performer is used to such public forums.
Mr Turnbull will attempt to paint Mr Shorten as a union lackey who cannot manage the economy; Mr Shorten, conversely, will say Mr Turnbull is an out-of-touch protector of greedy banks leading a divided party that stands for nothing.
Labor needs to win 21 seats to take power, a swing of 4.3%. Recent polls have Labor in a position to achieve a swing of this magnitude on a two-party preferred basis, but the reality is more complex than that.
Mr Turnbull could pull more preferences from the Greens than more conservative leaders and individual battles in key marginal electorates are likely to have a big impact on the result. Labor's primary vote remains very low.
The government passed laws changing how Australians vote for members of the upper house in March. The new rules change the distribution of preferences in such a way that members of so-called "micro-parties", such as the Motoring Enthusiasts Party, will find it much more difficult to secure seats in the Senate. A double dissolution election requires that all Senate seats be declared empty - at a normal election, only half of the seats are up for grabs, and Senators typically get two terms in office.
The chance to get rid of pesky crossbench senators who block government legislation and secure a majority in the upper house is clearly one of Mr Turnbull's motivations for holding the double dissolution. But with opinion polls moving against him, it remains to be seen whether the prime minister's gamble pays off.


The Northern Ireland Assembly has refused to comment on a claim that a number of staff have been sacked for using social media.

The TUV leader Jim Allister said he was "deeply concerned."
An Assembly spokesperson said the assembly "does not comment on personnel and human resource matters".
Mr Allister accused the Stormont authorities of "overreacting" and being "totally disproportionate".
He claimed that among the evidence presented against staff were screen shots of retweeted news stories which could be accessed through the Assembly's internal internet system.
"While, arguably, the letter of the Assembly's policy on use of social media may have been breached, it is obvious that some have been dismissed without so much as a warning, particularly in the absence of any demonstrable harm caused," he said.
"It is easy for the (Assembly) Commission to come down heavily on people who have no public profile and show them the door because they have retweeted something.
"But the same Commission has a record of gross indifference when it came to the flying of a tricolour from the roof of Parliament Buildings. What a contrast with what happened when serious allegations were made against politicians."
Mr Allister has tabled a written question asking the Assembly Commission how many staff have been disciplined in respect of alleged abuse of social media and what the breakdown is in terms of outcome in respect of such actions.


An Italian who fatally set fire to a homeless man has confessed to murder, saying he was motivated by jealousy.

Giuseppe Pecoraro admitted pouring petrol on Marcello Cimino and setting him alight outside a mission run by Capucin monks in Palermo, Sicily.
Mr Pecoraro, a petrol pump attendant, thought the victim was pursuing his wife, local police said.
Video footage captured Mr Pecoraro pouring a bucket of petrol on Mr Cimino's bedding while he slept.
Neighbours reported hearing Mr Cimino screaming in pain. He died before emergency services arrived.
The attacker burned his hands in the blaze. He was arrested on Saturday, less than 24 hours after the crime.
He told police he had burned his hands on a coffee maker, Italy's La Repubblica reported, but later confessed to murder.
Palermo Mayor Leoluca Orlando described the murder as an "act of pure barbarism" and said he would lower the town hall flag to half-mast.
La Repubblica obtained leaked video footage of the crime, prompting a separate police investigation into the leak.
Mr Pecoraro has been charged with murder.


Prayers have been said for a 52-year-old teacher whose death sparked a police manhunt across Kent.

The body of Caroline Andrews was discovered at a property in The Street, Benenden on Thursday.
A book of condolence was opened at St George's Church in the village and prayers offered during the service on Sunday.
A 54-year-old man was detained on Friday in connection with her death, which is being treated as murder.
Mrs Andrews was described as a "loved and respected" supply teacher at Benenden CE School.
Head teacher Gill Knox said staff had been left shocked and saddened.


A man found dead in a house in Johnstone in Renfrewshire had "significant injuries", police have said.

Officers discovered the 42-year-old's body at the property in Greenend Avenue at about 10:45 on Saturday.
Detectives were treating the death as suspicious and said they believed there was a disturbance at the house at about 00:05, when someone came to the door.
They have appealed for anyone with information to come forward.
A post-mortem examination was due to take place to establish the exact cause of death.
Det Insp Mark Henderson of Police Scotland's Major Investigation Team said: "The 42-year-old man was found with significant injuries and as such extensive police enquiries are ongoing to establish how he came about these injuries.
"We believe that there was a disturbance at the house around 0050 hrs on Saturday 25 February when a person or persons came to the door and I appeal to anyone who may have heard anything at this time or anyone who saw anyone hanging around Greenend Avenue to contact police at Govan via telephone number 101."


Manchester City want to buy Everton defender John Stones, but would have to pay the Goodison Park club around £50m for the England international.

New City manager Pep Guardiola is keen to make Stones his next high-profile transfer of the summer.
Stones was one of only two outfield players not to see action in England's disappointing Euro 2016 campaign.
Talks have yet to take place, but the asking price would make Stones, 22, Britain's most expensive defender.
Everton have no need to sell, but the possibility is growing that Stones will leave before the start of the new Premier League season.
He was at the centre of a transfer battle last summer when Everton rejected a succession of bids rising up to almost £40m from Chelsea, simply refusing to sell to then manager Jose Mourinho.
Guardiola has made Stones, who has 10 England caps, a priority target as he prepares to renew his rivalry with Mourinho, who is now across the city at Manchester United, and looks certain to get his man.
Manchester City have already signed Ilkay Gundogan from Borussia Dortmund and completed a £13.8m deal for Spain forward Nolito from Celta Vigo after their interest in Euro 2016 was ended by Italy.
Everton will give any money they get for Stones to new manager Ronald Koeman to increase his already considerable transfer fund.
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Shares in Australian airline Qantas have tumbled after it warned of weaker demand.

The airline said that "some softness in demand, related to the upcoming federal election and recent drop in consumer confidence in Australia," had emerged over Easter.
As a result, Qantas said it would be cutting back on planned increases to capacity.
Shares in the carrier closed down by 10.8% at 3.62 Australian dollars.
Australia  is expected to now have an election on 2 July after the federal upper house voted down legislation aimed at policing construction industry unions, allowing the government to call an early election.
"In response to changed demand conditions, the Qantas Group has revised planned capacity additions in the final three months of financial year 2016," the group said.
"Qantas Group domestic capacity growth in the final quarter will now be negative compared to the prior corresponding period."
Qantas said the changes would mean that growth in domestic capacity for the second half of the year would be revised down from 2% to between 0.5% and 1%.
Internationally, the group said it would remove three Sydney to Los Angeles services and re-direct the capacity to Singapore and Hong Kong.
Earlier this year, the airline reported a record profit of A$921m ($665m; Â£470m), thanks largely to lower oil prices.


The family of a six-year-old boy who died after being pulled unconscious from a caravan park swimming pool are suing the campsite's owners.

Aidan Sands was found at the bottom of the pool at the Red Lion Caravan Park in Arbroath on 18 June 2011.
He passed away in Ninewells Hospital in his native Dundee four days later.
After his mother also died last February, her parents have taken on a legal case against the campsite's owners for £50,000.
Three years on from the incident, the Crown Office is still considering whether charges under health and safety legislation will be brought against Loch Earn Caravan Parks Ltd.
The family of the Mill O'Mains primary school pupil want to find out why he died and ask questions about staffing at the pool at the time of the incident.
Brian Castle, a partner at law firm Digby Brown's Dundee office, confirmed he was representing the family in a case at the Court of Session.
He said: "The circumstances of this case are deeply tragic, and we have raised civil proceedings because we are determined and committed to helping the family get answers to the many questions they still have about what happened."
Loch Earn Caravan Parks Ltd declined to comment on the case.


It seemed appropriate that a wedding party should arrive at Craigavon Civic Centre in County Armagh as I and my camera operator were filming interviews about the shake-up of Northern Ireland councils.

After all, Wednesday 31 March will mark a "big day" that is all about new partnerships.
Life in local government will never be the same again.
The happy couple graciously agreed to allow us to film them partaking of one of the services that councils provide - marriage.
Of course, local authorities carry out many less glamorous functions too.
Waste management, cemeteries, leisure centres to name a few.
Their duties tended to be summed up as "emptying the bins and burying the dead".
But now they are taking on some important new powers.
The 11 super-councils will take most planning decisions.
Only those deemed to be "regionally significant" will be retained by the environment minister.
In a year's time, the local authorities will get powers for urban regeneration.
Tied to that, they will have responsibility for local economic development and tourism.
The super-councils will also take over more than 300 off-street car parks from the Department for Regional Development.
The idea is that councils will be able to take the lead in shaping towns, cities and rural areas.
One example being held up is that of Manchester, where the council has led a striking city regeneration programme in recent years.
The chief executive of the Northern Ireland Local Government Association (NILGA), Derek McCallan, is "unapologetic" about his enthusiasm.
"It's a very compelling change for the average ratepayer and for the average politician. But there'll be no such thing as an average council, because there'll be no poverty of ambition from them. You can be sure of that," he said.
According to Mr McCallan, similar models of local government elsewhere in the world have brought more prosperity.
"In places like the Netherlands, about 88% of development takes place in towns and cities driving their own development. Here, councils will now be able to be a real driver of economic development, rather than a consultee or a recipient of a grant."
He, and others at the heart of the transition, believe it will take a few years for the new councils to bed-in and get used to using their new powers effectively.
Most politicians will surely agree that working to improve local economies should be high on their priority list.
But some political disagreement in council chambers is inevitable.
Already, there has been a row in the Mid-Ulster super-council, when a council meeting in "shadow" format resulted in a ban on the sale of poppies or Easter lilies on council property.
And there has been controversy over Newry, Mourne and Down Council's decision to place the Irish language above English on its signs.
But on the eve of the handover, the super-councils are emphasising the potential positives rather than the possible pitfalls.
On Wednesday, there will be little, if any, change to council services - the public will probably not see much to suggest that a revolution in local government has begun.
It may take several years before we see if this huge change in the way Northern Ireland is run will have a truly transformative effect.


A proposed road tunnel past Stonehenge should be made longer with better designed entrances, the Council for British Archaeology (CBA) has said.

The government has unveiled plans for a 1.8-mile (2.9km) tunnel past the World Heritage Site.
It said this would transform the A303, cutting congestion and improving journey times.
The CBA said it backed the tunnel but lengthening it could help avoid damaging key views of the monument.
CBA director Mike Hepworth said he was keen to engage with Highways England to find a solution as the proposed western tunnel entrance was close to some significant burial sites.
"Just moving the western end by three or four hundred metres would make a huge difference to not damaging the key views and relationships which are important to understanding the landscape," he said.
"This is one of the most significant monuments in the world and we have a responsibility to maintain it for future generations."
The busy A303 in Wiltshire currently passes within a few hundred metres of the prehistoric monument.
The tunnel forms part of a £2bn government scheme to upgrade all remaining sections of the road between the M3 and M5.
A public consultation of the tunnel plan runs until 5  March.


A former Newcastle United footballer has said abuse by coach George Ormond left him a "shell" of his former self.

David Eatock, now 40, told the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire show he had been groomed by Ormond from age 18 to 21.
Mr Eatock was not part of the court case that saw Ormond convicted in 2002 for assaulting seven boys, but has now filed a complaint to the police.
New England football manager Gareth Southgate said a former teammate was among those to have spoken of abuse.
It comes as the NSPCC said its hotline - set up to offer support to victims of child sex abuse within football - had received 860 calls in its first week.
At his first news conference as England manager, Southgate revealed he had played alongside one of the footballers who has spoken out about being sexually abused in their youth -  although he did not identify him.
Asked if he had been aware of any abuse going on, he said: "The reality of that, as they have said, is that they [abuse victims] haven't felt able to speak about that until this moment, and that's completely understandable.
"And of course with the benefit of hindsight you always relay then things that you have seen from the past and have an understanding, 'oh, okay, that's why we saw the things we saw'."
He said the allegations of abuse were "heartbreaking", and the bravery of the men coming forward was "exceptional".
There had been "enormous strides" made in protecting young players, he told reporters.
Speaking as a parent, he added: "If I'm a parent sending my child to a game over the weekend, I feel they are in a much better place than we were 15, 20 years ago."
Victoria Derbyshire: Full interview with David Eatock
Promising footballer Matthew Monaghan 'quit after abuse'
Child protection project 'stopped by FA'
Scandal one of FA's biggest crises - Greg Clarke
How do you talk to your children about sexual abuse?
Alongside Southgate at the conference, Football Association chief executive Martin Glenn said he did not believe there had been a "cover-up" at the FA.
Asked about allegations of "hush money" being paid to abuse victims, he said: "If the FA have made errors, we'll own up to them, as must the rest of football.
"Do I think there's been a cover-up in the game? I doubt it.
"I think the FA has, since the late 90s, taken safeguarding extremely seriously; we wrote it into the standard chartered rules that there should be safety officers, and at a time when society was very different," he said.
The NSPCC hotline is available 24 hours a day on 0800 023 2642.
Within the first three days of it launching, the organisation made more than 60 referrals to a range of agencies across the UK.
That was more than three times as many referrals as in the first three days of the Jimmy Savile scandal, the NSPCC added.
Jon Brown, the charity's lead on tackling sexual abuse, suggested that some of the calls to the hotline were about current abuse.
It would be naÃ¯ve to assume that all the concerns were in the past and that there was not "an ongoing problem in football and in sport generally" that needed to be dealt with, he told the BBC.
There are now 15 police forces investigating allegations.
David Eatock signed for Newcastle United in 1995, at the age of 18. He regularly played for the club's reserve team until the age of 21, when a knee injury ended his professional career.
Mr Eatock - who has waived his right to anonymity - said he had been groomed by Ormond during this period, adding that the coach masturbated in front of him.
He said Ormond had "preyed" on him because he had been vulnerable, as his father had been seriously ill with bowel cancer at the time.
"I was an adult, but really just a boy," he said.
The former footballer said: "I never had reason to see Ormond, but he sought me out.
"I trained with the main team, and Ormond was a youth team coach.
"He'd seen me previously when I was at another club and had scored a hat-trick.
"He told me I'd make a fantastic player, and he'd keep an eye on me, so when I went to Newcastle he sought me out."
Mr Eatock said on the first occasion he had been groomed, Ormond "worked out what guest house I was staying at and just turned up".
"I was on my own most of the time in that guest house - only saw people at meal times," he said.
"So then he turned up, took me for a drink and kept buying me drink, after drink, after drink. I thought, 'This is what footballers do.'"
Mr Eatock said the conversation "turned to sex... and he talked about my penis".
He said: "He invited himself back to my guest house. Within moments, he unzipped his pants and started masturbating."
The former Newcastle United forward, who played alongside the Premier League's record goal scorer Alan Shearer, said this "began to happen about once a month".
"He'd take me out for a drink. He'd get me so drunk I'd be sick, and he'd talk about sex and my penis," he said.
Mr Eatock said the grooming continued until his contract at Newcastle United expired, in 1998.
He said when Ormond realised the player would not be kept on, he sexually assaulted him.
"He put his hands down my pants. You'd like to think that you'd hit him, fight back, but I was in shock. I couldn't speak," he said.
"I've spent 20 years wondering why I didn't do anything.
"I signed for Newcastle as a really confident boy, and when I left I was a shell."
On Wednesday, former Newcastle United footballer Derek Bell said he was abused hundreds of times by Ormond in the 1970s, while playing for the Montagu and North Fenham boys football club.
Mr Bell went on to have a short professional career, which was ended by injury. But years later, in the late 1990s, he discovered that his abuser had become involved in youth coaching at Newcastle so he reported the original incidents to police.
He also visited Ormond at his home and secretly recorded a conversation between them. This evidence led to the conviction of Ormond for sexual assaults on seven different boys and he was sentenced to six years in prison.
Sentencing Ormond, the judge Esmond Faulks told him: "The evidence demonstrates you were a predatory abuser of young boys."
At the time of sentencing, Mr Eatock said his wife had asked if he had known Ormond - at which point he had opened up to her.
"She told me to go the police, but I didn't," he said. "I thought, 'He's been punished anyway.'"
Mr Eatock said he had lived with anxiety and depression for the past 10 years "because of what [Ormond] did to me" and now saw a therapist.
The BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme is broadcast on weekdays between 09:00 and 11:00 on BBC Two and the BBC News channel.


Ricky Shakes helped Boreham Wood stun last season's National League high-flyers Forest Green Rovers 1-0 at Meadow Park.

Shakes made no mistake when a block by Dale Bennett fell kindly for him in the box on the half-hour mark, rifling past goalkeeper Sam Russell.
Prior to the goal and for long periods after that, Forest Green Rovers, who lost to Grimsby in last term's play-off final after finishing second overall, created chances and just could not finish them off.
Portuguese midfielder Bruno Andrade was a constant threat for the hosts, though, and he nearly rubber-stamped the victory with a late burst into the box, only to be denied by Russell.
Report supplied by the Press Association.
LISTEN: Forest Green Rovers boss Mark Cooper's post-match interview
Forest Green Rovers boss Mark Cooper told BBC Radio Gloucestershire:
"You can't expect to win a game when you have as many players as we did. Boreham Wood fully deserved to win the game.
"If you have seven, eight or nine players not at it or not near the top of their game you don't win. We'll put that down to first day blues and move on.
"We were poor in the forward areas, the front players didn't secure the ball, we didn't have any control in the middle of the pitch from where we've been in pre-season. If we lose control of the game we look ragged and we were today."
Match ends, Boreham Wood 1, Forest Green Rovers 0.
Second Half ends, Boreham Wood 1, Forest Green Rovers 0.
Corner,  Forest Green Rovers.
Conor Clifford (Boreham Wood) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Substitution, Boreham Wood. Dan Woodards replaces David Stephens.
Corner,  Boreham Wood.
Dale Bennett (Forest Green Rovers) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Morgan Ferrier (Boreham Wood) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Substitution, Boreham Wood. Morgan Ferrier replaces Angelo Balanta.
Substitution, Boreham Wood. Conor Clifford replaces Kenny Davis.
Substitution, Forest Green Rovers. Fabien Robert replaces Darren Carter.
Substitution, Forest Green Rovers. Matt Tubbs replaces Rhys Murphy.
Corner,  Boreham Wood.
Second Half begins Boreham Wood 1, Forest Green Rovers 0.
First Half ends, Boreham Wood 1, Forest Green Rovers 0.
Corner,  Forest Green Rovers.
Goal!  Boreham Wood 1, Forest Green Rovers 0. Ricky Shakes (Boreham Wood).
Kenny Davis (Boreham Wood) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
First Half begins.
Lineups are announced and players are warming up.


Northamptonshire captain Alex Wakely led from the front with an unbeaten 109 to steer his side to a One-Day Cup victory over Lancashire in Liverpool.

After starting with two group defeats, Wakely's highest List A score helped Northants to a first win, giving them three points from their last two games following a tie with Worcestershire.
They chased down Lancashire's 324-8 to triumph with 20 balls to spare.
Rob Keogh made 69 as the visitors reached 326-4 to win by six wickets.
He shared a key fourth-wicket stand of 152 with Wakely after Richard Levi (63) and Rob Newton had earlier put on 92 for the second wicket, while Adam Rossington weighed in with 20 off 12 balls at the end, finishing off the game with a six.
Despite four Lancashire batsman reaching half-centuries, Ryan McLaren (79), Jordan Clark (76*), Kolpak player Dane Vilas (61) and Karl Brown (58), Lancashire's third straight defeat leaves them now with a very tall order to qualify for the knckout stage.
They now travel to Edgbaston on Sunday to face Warwickshire, who have slipped below Northants to second bottom in the group.
Northants, who pulled off their best-ever List A run chase, go to Chester-le-Street to face Durham.
Lancashire's Jordan Clark told BBC Radio Manchester:
"It was a decent wicket and the collapse in the early overs wasn't ideal. It certainly put the lower order on the back foot. We had to rebuild without taking risks but, in the end, it wasn't enough. We were missing 30 runs.
"They put us under pressure in the Powerplay and they batted well all the way through. They took momentum into their batting and it worked out for them.
"We have a strong batting line-up but I don't think it's really clicked yet. We could score 400 really. The bowling has been off the boil but when you're hitting it well on a ground like this it becomes such a big total to defend."
Northants captain Alex Wakely told BBC Radio Northampton:
"We needed that win really. We have played some bit-part cricket this year and this was the first time we have managed to string it together with the bat.
"We weren't quite the finished article with the ball and we probably let them get too many from the position they were in. But it was a very clinical chase.
"It was an amazing start for us. Richard Levi set the tone but James Taylor has been big for us on making sure that someone is there at the end and that was my role. As a captain you want to be contributing."


The UK has slipped down the list of preferred destinations for Chinese millionaires considering moving overseas, a report suggests.

While the US remains the favourite place to settle, Canada now ranks second pushing Britain into third spot.
The survey found around half of those millionaires quizzed were mulling a move abroad.
Pollution, education and the falling value of the Chinese yuan depleting savings were all reasons given.
The study by Huran Report and Visa Consulting Group surveyed 304 Chinese individuals with a net worth between $1.5m and $30m. About half were based in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou or Shenzhen.
"Education and pollution are driving China's rich to emigrate," said Huran Report chief researcher Rupert Hoogewerf.
"If China can solve these issues, then the primary incentive to emigrate will have been taken away."
The report had no details on why the UK had slipped behind Canada.
Los Angeles was the favourite destination for wealthy Chinese followed by Seattle, San Francisco and New York.  London ranked 14th.
The strength of China's currency, which fell to an eight-month low last November, is clearly playing on the minds of many of China's rich.
Of those surveyed, 84% said worries about devaluation was a key factor driving them overseas.


A man has been charged with arson after a fire broke out on a North Sea ferry.

Six people were airlifted to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation on the MS King Seaways, 30 miles from the Yorkshire coast, on Saturday night.
The DFDS Seaways ferry, which was bound for the Netherlands, had 946 passengers and 127 crew on board.
Northumbria Police said Boden George Hughes, 26, from Sunderland, had been charged with arson reckless to endangering life and affray.
He is due before magistrates in North Shields on Tuesday.
Another man aged 28, who was also arrested on suspicion of affray, has been released on bail.
The five crew members who fought the fire and a pregnant passenger were airlifted to Scarborough Hospital and later discharged.
DFDS said the fire had started at about 22:45 GMT on Saturday as the ferry sailed from North Shields to Ijmuiden, in the Netherlands, but was extinguished within 15 minutes.
It returned early on Sunday to North Shields, where passengers disembarked following police interviews.
Insp Andrew Dixon of Humberside Police said the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) had called them at about 23:00 GMT.
The company said it was doing "everything to help" passengers complete their journey from Tyneside.


Ireland were on the receiving end of two controversial lbw decisions as they lost their second one-day international against Afghanistan by 34 runs.

Asghar Stanikzai hit 101, his first one-day century, to help the Afghans hit their highest ever total of 338 in the Indian venue of Greater Noida.
Ireland opener Paul Stirling was on 95 with them going well on 173-1 when he was given out to a Rashid Khan ball.
Andrew Balbirnie's dismissal to a Dawlat Zadran ball also looked harsh.
Leg-spinner Stirling produced an outstanding individual display as he picked up six Afghanistan wickets.
With Ed Joyce (55) having put on 113 for the first wicket with Stirling and skipper William Porterfield contributing 45, the Irish top order kept the run chase on target.
After Balbirnie's dismissal left Ireland on 228-5 in the 37th over, Stuart Thompson and Gary Wilson put on 50 for the next wicket over the next six overs but they both departed in quick succession to effectively end the contest.
Afghanistan bowler Khan finished with figures of 6-43 with Zadran taking three Irish wickets.
The Afghans beat Ireland in Wednesday's opening one-day game and there are three further contests, beginning with Sunday's game at the same venue.
Ireland had already been whitewashed 3-0 in a Twenty20 series between the sides in India.
The teams will play meet in a further Intercontinental Cup match at the end of the month in Greater Noida.


Thousands of migrating snow geese died after landing in contaminated pit mine waters in Montana, mine officials have said.

Officials estimate that as many as 25,000 birds landed in the Berkeley Pit last week, and since then have been seen dropping dead in the area.
Mine workers tried to prevent the birds from landing in the acidic wastewater, but were overwhelmed by their number.
Each year several birds are found floating dead there, but never so many.
"I can't underscore enough how many birds were in the Butte area that night," said Mark Thompson, an environmental affairs manager for Montana Resources, which controls the pit mine along with Atlantic Richfield.
"Numbers beyond anything we've ever experienced in our 21 years of monitoring by several orders of magnitude,", Mr Thompson said, adding that they typically only see between 2,000-5,000 birds in the region each year during the summer and winter migrations.
Between 2010 and 2013, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) only recorded 14 snow goose fatalities in the Berkeley Pit.
In 1995, 342 snow geese corpses were found floating in the pit's metal-laden waters, leading federal authorities to force the abandoned mine's caretakers to take measures to scare off the birds.
On 28 November, mine workers used "bird hazing" techniques to try to frighten the birds and prevent them from landing in the water, which is acidic enough to dissolve a motorboat's steel propeller, according to researchers.
As the flock approached, they fired loud rifles and shotguns in the air, activated spotlights, and devices called Phoenix Wailers, which emit sounds of predators.
But the "hazing" techniques failed to prevent the pit from appearing like "700-acres [2.8 k/sq] of white birds," Mr Thompson described.
Researchers believe that the birds were forced to land due to an approaching storm, and were embarked on a late-season migration because of warming temperatures in their northern Arctic habitat which allowed them to remain there for longer.
The mine's caretakers could face a fine if the companies are determined to have not been complying with the bird hazing programme.


The UN humanitarian affairs chief has expressed deep concern for communities cut off in Syria by months of fighting between government and rebel forces.

Valerie Amos told the BBC she had heard accounts of near starvation, including in the capital, Damascus.
Baroness Amos said she had spoken to the government about trying to get humanitarian access.
She said the situation in the country was getting worse by the day and she had heard horrific tales of suffering.
The situation on the ground keeps shifting, but a confidential UN document leaked to the BBC in late December said more than a quarter of a million Syrians are stuck in "besieged or hard to access areas".
Humanitarian crisis explainedQ&A: Geneva II
Starving an area is a war crime. In Syria, food is a weapon of war used by all sides as they try to gain ground militarily, says the BBC's Lyse Doucet.
The uprising began in March 2011 and the UN says more than 100,000 people have died in the conflict.
Baroness Amos' visit comes less than two weeks before the planned start of an international conference in Switzerland to find a political solution to the war.
Foreign ministers from 11 countries that back the Syrian opposition movement met in Paris on Sunday with the aim of persuading the opposition to attend the Geneva II talks.
The so-called Friends of Syria said on Sunday that there would be "no political solution for Syria unless Geneva 2 meets".
Ahmad Jarba, the leader of the Syrian National Coalition, said it had been agreed that President Bashar al-Assad and his family would have no role in the country's future.
But Mr Jarba did not say whether the Coalition would take part in the 22 January talks.
The Coalition asserts President Assad has no intention of negotiating his own departure, especially now that the military opposition is itself compromised by the rise of Islamist groups.
There is an almost complete disconnect between the effective forces on the ground inside the country, and the Western-backed Coalition - which claims to be the sole representative of the Syrian people, says BBC Middle East correspondent Jim Muir.
Baroness Amos said she was "really worried" about people in communities who had been besieged for long periods, in some cases for more than a year.
"The sick and wounded have not been able to leave, we've not been able to get food in.
"There are reports of people on the brink of starvation including in the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp close to the centre of Damascus," she told the BBC.
She described the situation as "unimaginable".
She said the Syrian government had given assurances that they would help the UN to get humanitarian access.
"We talked in particular about how we can try to get into these besieged communities - this has been part of the conversations that I've had with the government on a number of occasions.
"I have been assured by the deputy foreign minister and also by the foreign minister that the government will do everything that they can to help us to facilitate that access."
Speaking on Friday, UN official Christopher Gunness said residents in the Yarmouk camp, including infants and children, have been subsisting on diets of such things as stale vegetables, animal feed and cooking spices dissolved in water.
He said infants were suffering from diseases linked to severe malnutrition, including anaemia, rickets, and kwashiorkor [a protein deficiency].
The Syrian Observatory said separately that it had documented the deaths of 41 Palestinian refugees as a result of food and medical shortages in the past three months.


Adele has confirmed her new album will be called 25, and says the music will focus on her journey to adulthood.

It follows the singer's pattern of naming her albums after her age: Her debut was titled 19 and the follow-up was called 21.
The singer wrote in a statement: "25 is about getting to know who I've become without realising. And I'm sorry it took so long but, you know, life happened."
There is no release date for the star's new album at the moment, but several media reports have pointed towards 20 November as the likely day.
A preview of the album appeared without warning on Sunday night, during an advertising break on The X Factor.
The 30-second clip featured the star's voice along with the song's words on an otherwise black screen.
At the time, her spokespeople refused to confirm whether or not the material was actually by the singer.
Adele's last album 21, which contained the mega-hit Someone Like You, is the biggest-selling album of the 21st Century, selling more than 30 million copies worldwide.
It shifted 4.75 million copies in the UK alone, making it the fourth best-selling album of all time.


Leading Republicans and Democrats have urged President Barack Obama to provide lethal defensive weapons to Ukraine in its fight against pro-Russian rebels.

In a letter, House Speaker John Boehner and other lawmakers said Russia's actions in Ukraine were a "grotesque violation of international law".
They said that a recent truce had only consolidated rebel gains in the east.
Ukraine and the West accuse Russia of helping the rebels with weapons and soldiers - a claim Moscow denies.
Independent experts echo that accusation, but Russia insists that any Russians serving with the rebels are "volunteers".
At least 6,000 people are believed to have been killed since the conflict in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions erupted last April, a month after Russia annexed Ukraine's southern Crimea peninsula.
In other developments:
The bipartisan letter signed by 11 lawmakers said Russia's actions in Ukraine were "a challenge to the West and an assault on the international order established at such great cost in the wake of World War II."
"We urge you to quickly approve additional efforts to support Ukraine's efforts to defend its sovereign territory, including through the transfer of lethal defence weapons systems to the Ukrainian military."
The lawmakers said they believed this was the only way Ukraine could now "deter and defend against further aggression".
They also displayed impatience with the European Union, arguing there was a "lack of clarity" in the West's policy on the Ukraine issue and that President Obama should lead the way.
A number of US politicians have been pressing Mr Obama for some time to arm Ukraine, criticising him for his indecisiveness.
The president has repeatedly stated he is studying such an option if diplomacy fails to end the crisis.


Nigel Farage has been shortlisted for the title of Time magazine's person of the year, along with Russian President Vladimir Putin and singer Beyonce.

The former UKIP leader is one of 11 contenders named by the US publication, which cites his role in helping bring about Brexit.
Others on its list include US President-elect Donald Trump and his defeated opponent Hillary Clinton.
Time announces the winner of the accolade next Wednesday.
Revealing the shortlist, which is chosen by Time editors, the magazine said: "As head of the UK Independence Party, Farage was a face of the successful campaign for Britain to leave the European Union, positioning the referendum as the start of a global populist wave against the political establishment."
The other contenders are:
Last year's Time person of the year winner was German Chancellor Angela Merkel.


Some of France's wealthiest people have called on the government to tackle its deficit by raising taxes - on the rich.

Sixteen executives, including Europe's richest woman, the L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt, offered in an open letter to pay a "special contribution" in a spirit of "solidarity".
Later the government is due to announce tighter fiscal measures as it seeks to reassure markets and curb the deficit.
They are expected to include a special tax on the super-rich.
Before the announcement, expected on Wednesday evening, a letter appeared on the website of the French magazine Le Nouvel Observateur.
It was signed by some of France's most high-profile chief executives, including Christophe de Margerie of oil firm Total, Frederic Oudea of bank Societe Generale, and Air France's Jean-Cyril Spinetta.
They said: "We, the presidents and leaders of industry, businessmen and women, bankers and wealthy citizens would like the richest people to have to pay a 'special contribution'."
They said they had benefited from the French system and that: "When the public finances deficit and the prospects of a worsening state debt threaten the future of France and Europe and when the government is asking everybody for solidarity, it seems necessary for us to contribute."
They warned, however, that the contribution should not be so severe that it would provoke an exodus of the rich or increased tax avoidance.
The move follows a call by US billionaire investor Warren Buffett for higher taxes on the American ultra-rich.
The French government has already said it is working on a special tax on those earning more than 1m euros (Â£900,000) a year.
The measures are expected to be part of a new package aimed at cutting up to 14bn euros from the budget deficit over the next two years.
It is not clear exactly what form they will take, but they are expected to include a reduction in tax breaks and increased taxes on big companies.
The government has been forced to act after recent fears that France's AAA credit rating could be downgraded.
France plans to trim its public deficit to 5.7 % this year, 4.6 % next year and 3% in 2013.


Volkswagen will offer "substantial compensation" and car buy-back deals in the US as part of a settlement of the the diesel emissions scandal.

Final details of the packages offered will be announced in June, but a court had given VW and regulators until Thursday to reach a deal in principle.
Last year, US regulators discovered that VW cars were fitted with software that could distort emissions tests.
The German giant subsequently said 11 million cars worldwide were affected.
Details of the preliminary agreement were announced in a California court. US district court Judge Charles Breyer said the settlement would include a buyback offer for nearly 500,000 2.0-litre vehicles.
He did not give details of how much car owners would offered in compensation, but said the deal between Volkswagen, the US government and private lawyers would be "substantial".
Judge Breyer said VW would also pay into an environmental fund and commit other money to promote green car technology.
Volkswagen told its shareholders last year it had set aside $7.3bn to help defray the potential costs of a recall or regulatory penalties, but that figure could rise. The company faces as much as $20bn in fines for Clean Air Act violations alone.
Peugeot raided by emissions investigators
US sues Volkswagen over diesel car ads
VW boss warns US deal could cost more
Analyst Marc-Rene Tonn, at Warburg Research, estimated the direct financial impact on Volkswagen from the emissions scandal worldwide was $32.3bn.
The US settlement could influence what happens in Europe and in other countries, Mr Tonn said. "Very generous payments to US customers may add to some greediness here, too."
Volkswagen installed software in the diesel engines to detect when they were being tested and cheat the results. Some models could have been pumping out up to 40 times the legal limit of the pollutant, nitrogen oxide, regulators disclosed.
"Volkswagen is committed to winning back the trust of its customers, its dealers, its regulators and all of America," said VW lawyer Robert Giuffra. The agreements are "an important step forward on the road to making things right," he added.
The firm said in a statement that it "intends to compensate its customers fully and to remediate any impact on the environment from excess diesel emissions".
It said a deal in principle had been reached with the Justice Department, the Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board.
It added that it had "reached an agreement on the basic features of a settlement with the class action plaintiffs in the lawsuit in San Francisco. This agreement will be incorporated into a comprehensive settlement in the coming weeks".
The deal announced on Thursday covers mostly 2-litre vehicles. Judge Breyer said he expects an agreement between VW and regulators covering about 90,000 larger vehicles and SUVs to be addressed "expeditiously".


A teenager has been arrested on suspicion of arson after a pub in Gloucester was destroyed by fire.

Police said the boy, 16, was arrested after the fire at The Orchard in Quedgeley. A woman escaped from the building but a dog died in the blaze.
Firefighters from Gloucester, Stroud, Painswick and Cheltenham were called to the blaze in the early hours.
The boy was released on police bail on Friday evening, pending further inquiries.
Richard Smith from Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue said the fire was "very severe".
He said the building was currently too unsafe to enter.
Mr Smith said a "full fire investigation" was under way at the pub in Olympus Park and the service was working with Gloucester Police.
He added about 50 firefighters were called to the blaze and stopped it from spreading to neighbouring buildings.


Northern Ireland sailors Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern ended the 49er class in 10th position after finishing ninth in Thursday's medal race in Rio.

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The Ireland duo had been lying eighth overall going into the final event.
The pair are likely to go their separate ways after the Games, having previously competed in the 2012 Olympics, in which they were 14th.
Carrickfergus man Seaton, 26, and McGovern, 28, from Bangor, had been in fourth halfway through the competition.
Their position at that stage was boosted by a win in one of Saturday's races.
"We made a good start and things were looking good but it was a real tricky course," said McGovern after the final race.
Seaton added: "We had some really good races during the week and worked well as a team - we were just a bit unlucky with the wind shifts on Thursday.
"Obviously we are a bit disappointed as we came here to get a medal but at least we can walk away from the event saying we gave 100%.
"We pushed even harder for this cycle than we did for London 2012 and we can be proud of ourselves for that."
New Zealand's pre-event favourites Peter Burling and Blair Tuke secured the gold medal, with Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen of Australia taking silver and Erik Heil and Thomas Ploessel of Germany claiming bronze.


A traffic warden has been caught on camera parking on double yellow lines while he gave out a ticket.

The officer left his own car on double yellows while issuing a ticket to a vehicle left in a disabled bay in Arthur Street in Stockport, the Manchester Evening News reports.
Stockport Council said he should not have parked there earlier this week.
It has identified the warden and "will ensure the appropriate action is taken to avoid a repetition".
A Stockport Council spokesperson said the incident involved the Civil Enforcement Officer (CEO) "issuing a penalty charge notice to a vehicle parked in a disabled bay without displaying a blue badges.
"However, CEOs should not park on double yellow lines to issue penalty charge notices.
"We have identified the CEO involved in the incident and will ensure the appropriate action is taken to avoid a repetition."


Having started the tournament with two wins from three matches we are feeling pretty good about how we're playing and how we are going in the Six Nations.

The Wales game was good fun. We were down at half-time but the second half we played a lot better, began to relax and really express ourselves. It was a really enjoyable game to play in.
The first half we knew we could have been better. We looked at a few things at half-time, adapted well and that was pleasing for us. We converted our chances really well. Any time we were in their 22 we were scoring points or tries so that was really positive.
I feel like I'm playing all right just now. It helps me if the rest of the team are all doing their jobs well. The forwards were excellent against Wales and the backs were so clinical that it was easy for me to play the way I wanted to play. It definitely helps my performance when so many guys round about me are bringing their A-game.
Italy's tactics against England in round three certainly generated a lot of debate. I thought it was smart rugby
It was a relief to kick well after taking over from Greig Laidlaw. He has been kicking so well for us over the last few years. It gives you confidence when you're kicking well but I think it boosts the whole team to see the kicks going over, keeping the scoreboard ticking over.
I was pleased with my kicking against Wales but I don't think Alex Dunbar can say the same. His attempted cross-field kick was hilarious. We've all been getting stuck into him at training this week about it. He knew we had penalty advantage so there was no harm done. It was really funny. In all seriousness, Alex was outstanding against Wales as he has been throughout the tournament. He's been making turnovers and creating the space for the likes of Huw Jones and Stuart Hogg to do damage.
We feel we're in good form but we know how big a challenge we face next up at Twickenham. England are three from three and are on a 17-match winning run and looking to equal the world record for consecutive Test victories.
People have said they've not properly hit their stride in the Six Nations so far but they are still winning games. At international level that's all that really matters. Even when they've not been at their best they are still managing to win games.
We've seen how composed they were even when they were trailing late in the games against France and Wales to come back and win. They are very good when it comes to those pressure moments. We'll need to counter that.
Italy's tactics against England in round three certainly generated a lot of debate. I thought it was smart rugby. It was a good game plan that caught England by surprise.
The first half they were rattled but they came back out after half-time and adapted to the circumstances and ultimately won the game with a bit to spare. Now that Italy have used those tactics I think any team would know how to counteract that so I'd imagine it will be a more traditional battle at the breakdown this weekend.
George Ford and Owen Farrell have a brilliant partnership at 10 and 12. They've been playing together for quite a while now. With Farrell playing at fly-half for Saracens he seems to take a bit of pressure off Ford. He'll know what Ford wants outside him and he takes the kicking responsibilities to touch and at goal. That allows Ford to just concentrate on his game.
Ford has great skills. His kicking is outstanding. He's good at putting those high balls up and pressuring the opposition with kicks. I'm looking forward to going up against him but it will be tough.
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England are chasing that record but we've got plenty of motivation ourselves to win this game. The record is of no interest to us. We just know a win will put us in a fantastic position in the championship and that's all the motivation we need.
Scotland are never the favourites when we take on England but it will be good to go down to Twickenham and have a crack at them. We've not won there in 34 years but the history doesn't bother us.
This is a different team. We are in a good place, playing well and looking forward to going down there and getting stuck in.
Finn Russell was speaking to BBC Scotland's Andy Burke.


Twenty years ago Dumfries and Galloway experienced its deepest February snowfall on record.

Whenever I travel abroad, I feel duty-bound to dispel a few myths and preconceptions about my homeland.
Over the years, one of the most common - especially among those from more tropical climes - is that of a snow-smothered Scotland.
"That's the Highlands," I will generally say. "Down in the south, it is mostly rain."
In a lifetime spent in Dumfries and Galloway, that has usually been the case.
But, on one day exactly 20 years ago, I was proved wrong in quite dramatic fashion.
The snows started steadily on the morning of Monday 5 February 1996.
"It'll no lie," we said confidently. "It'll all be melted by the morning."
History had shown us to be correct in those statements but this time the snow just kept coming and quickly settled across much of the region.
At my place of work at the time, on the local newspaper in Dumfries, it gradually dawned on us that things might be a little different this time around.
Those living furthest from the town were allowed to escape earliest but my own home was barely a mile from the office.
But even that short distance proved one of the trickiest journeys I can ever recall. I abandoned my car at the end of the road, unable to make progress through a wall of snow.
By afternoon, road travel was impossible in much of the region and even when snow ploughs could clear a route it quickly became blocked by abandoned vehicles.
There was a first report of a bus carrying 40 passengers getting stuck in the snow and emergency rest centres were opened.
At their peak, they accommodated about 2,500 people - many of them passing through the region on the A74(M).
The snowfalls were the first real test of the Dumfries and Galloway's Major Emergency Scheme.
A council report on the events of the time said the region was "effectively cut off from the outside world".
At the height of the problems 12,000 properties, including some of the emergency centres themselves, were without power.
The Met Office said the 50cm (20in) recorded at its Eskdalemuir observatory was the deepest level it had ever recorded in February.
It is small fry, of course, compared with some of the major falls seen elsewhere.
Nonetheless, it caused significant disruption and eventually, the army was called in to help get to the most vulnerable people and start with clean-up operations.
It gave the region an eerily quiet air for a couple of days as most people had to give up on cars and resort to travelling on foot.
Trudging through the snow - particularly on the first day after the falls - took particular effort with significant drifts in many places.
Yet there was a certain camaraderie among those who did venture out.
Complete strangers stopped you to talk about the weather conditions - so unusual for this sheltered corner of Scotland.
There were fears, in the immediate aftermath, of further blizzards but they were fortunately blown further north and the feared impact of the thaw was mitigated by it being much slower than anticipated.
As a council report put it: "Slowly the region got back to normal after five days of severe disruption."
And I had to revise my version of how little snow we saw in Dumfries and Galloway.
Were you in Dumfries and Galloway during the heavy snowfall of February 1996? What are your memories of the day? Do you have images from the time? Share them with us by emailingdumfries@bbc.co.uk.


The commander of US and Nato forces in Afghanistan has said he needs a "few thousand" more troops to break a stalemate in the war with the Taliban.

Gen John Nicholson told the US Senate Armed Services Committee he had enough forces for counter-terror operations.
But he stressed extra troops were needed to help train the Afghan military. The soldiers, he said, could be American or from other Nato nations.
He accused Russia and Iran of trying to undermine Nato in Afghanistan.
Testifying before the Senate committee on Thursday, Gen Nicholson said: "We have a shortfall of a few thousand."
He said he had already discussed the issue with President Donald Trump's new Defence Secretary, James Mattis.
What will Trump do about Afghanistan?
There are currently about 8,400 US troops in Afghanistan in the 13,300-strong Nato contingent.
US combat operations against the Taliban officially ended in 2014 - but special forces have continued to provide support to Afghan troops.
Afghan forces have suffered thousands of casualties in the past two years.
Gen Nicholson described the current security situation in the country as a "stalemate", but added that the "equilibrium favours the government".
And he also expressed concerns about "the influence of external actors - particularly Russia, Pakistan and Iran".
He said this influence continued to "legitimise and support the Taliban and undermine the Afghan effort to create a stable Afghanistan".
Russia - which has recently invited a Taliban delegation for talks in Moscow - argues that its support for the Taliban helps to combat so-called Islamic State.
But Gen Nicholson said it was a "false narrative".


A curry house owner who lured a rival to a north London street with a fake food order then hacked him to death has been jailed for life.

Foyjur Rahman, 44, was accused of being one of the men who attacked Abdul Samad in Islington on 21 May 1997.
Mr Samad, from Bow, arrived in Alwyne Road with a bag of curry where he was set upon by two men armed with a knife and a meat cleaver, the jury heard.
Rahman was sentenced to a minimum of 18 years at the Old Bailey.
The jury heard the victim, who was also known as Kamal, was killed during a dispute between two Bangladeshi groups.
He suffered 18 separate injuries including a four-inch (10cm) wide wound to his waist, and died the following day in hospital.
Rahman was living in east London and helped to run a different curry takeaway in east Putney at the time.
The jury heard Mr Samad had been put under pressure to act as an "intermediary" between the rival groups.
The suspects plotted to kill the father of two by luring him into a quiet street after he refused to act as a go-between, the Old Bailey heard.
Mr Ellison said DNA and fingerprints found on masks discarded near the scene with the murder weapons matched Rahman.
Another associate, Mohiuddin Bablu, who fled to Birmingham then Bangladesh was convicted of the murder in 2012, he said.
The day after the killing, the 44-year-old went to New York.
He was eventually extradited in January of this year and arrested at Heathrow Airport.
Det Sgt Nick Miller said it had "taken many years and liaison with law enforcement agencies across three countries" to convict the men.
In a victim statement, Mr Samad's family said "not a single day that passes when Kamal... is not in our thoughts".
"It was no surprise to hear that, whilst he had suffered such horrific injuries, he warned bystanders to stay away as the men who had attacked him were dangerous," they said.


French politician, women's rights champion and Holocaust survivor Simone Veil will be buried in Paris's Pantheon mausoleum.

She will become the fifth woman laid to rest in the crypt, alongside 76 men.
President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to her invincible spirit at her funeral at Les Invalides in Paris.
Ms Veil died last week, aged 89. The body of her husband, politician Antoine Veil, who died in 2013, will be moved to join hers in the mausoleum.
Writers Emile Zola, Victor Hugo and Alexandre Dumas, and scientist Marie Curie, are among others buried in the grand neoclassical building.
Internment is reliant on a parliamentary act for "national heroes".
President Macron said the honour showed "the immense gratitude of the French people to one of its most loved children".
"You have given our lives the light you had in you and which nothing or nobody was able to extinguish," Mr Macron told mourners.
Born in Nice in 1927 as Simone Jacob, she was arrested by the Germans in 1944, alongside her family, and sent to Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen.
She became best known in France for her instrumental role in legalising abortion in the 1970s as minister of health, and went on to serve as the first president of an elected European Parliament.
She later re-entered French politics, returning to the cabinet in the 1990s.
In 2010, she was deemed one of the 40 "immortals" of the AcadÃ©mie FranÃ§aise - a great honour in France.
Aside from Curie, the other women honoured with a Pantheon burial are two French Resistance members, Genevieve de Gaulle-Anthonioz and Germaine Tillion.
Sophie Berthelot, the wife of chemist Marcellin Berthelot, was also allowed posthumous entry to be buried with her spouse.


The Ukrainian military says five of its soldiers died in heavy rebel shelling of Ukrainian army positions at Avdiivka just north of rebel-held Donetsk.

Three Ukrainian troops died earlier when a mine blew up, the military said.
The US Department of State called it "the deadliest one-day period in 2017" in the eastern Ukraine conflict.
In a video tweet on Thursday, the state department blamed the "Russian-led" rebels for the flare-up and urged both sides to observe the fragile ceasefire.
The rebels also reported clashes on Thursday but did not confirm the Ukrainian death toll.
The UN says more than 10,000 people have died since the eastern Ukraine conflict erupted in April 2014, soon after Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea peninsula. The fighting has displaced more than 1.6 million people.
A ceasefire was agreed in Minsk in February 2015, but its terms are far from being fulfilled.
A Ukrainian military statement on Facebook said the pro-Russian rebels fired mortars, grenades and machine guns in the Avdiivka area, and Ukrainian troops returned fire.
It was the most intense fighting since 11 June when four Ukrainian soldiers were killed.
Western governments accuse Russia of helping the rebels with regular troops and heavy weapons. Moscow denies that, while admitting that Russian "volunteers" are helping the rebels.
On Tuesday the Donetsk rebel chief, Alexander Zakharchenko, announced plans to create a new "state" to replace Ukraine. He called it "Malorossiya" (Little Russia) - but the Kremlin later dismissed it as just his "personal initiative".


Radioactive water has been leaking from storage tanks at a damaged nuclear power station in Japan, say officials.

The Fukushima power station was badly damaged by an earthquake and tsunami in 2011 and has been shut down.
Water was pumped into the damaged reactors to cool them down - but some of this radioactive water has now escaped from storage containers.
Experts believe that as much as three hundred tonnes of radioactive water has leaked.
Newsround explains: How dangerous is radiation?


A new gene therapy technique is able to modify prostate cancer cells so that a patient's body attacks and kills them, US scientists have discovered.

The technique causes the tumour cells in the body to self-destruct, giving it the name 'suicide gene therapy'.
Their research found a 20% improvement in survival in patients with prostate cancer five years after treatment.
A cancer expert said more research was needed to judge its effectiveness.
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in the UK with more than 41,000 diagnosed each year.
The study, led by researchers from Houston Methodist Hospital in Texas, appears to show that this 'suicide gene therapy', when combined with radiotherapy, could be a promising treatment for prostate cancer in the future.
The technique involves the cancer cells being genetically modified so that they signal a patient's immune system to attack them.
Usually, the body does not recognise cancer cells as the enemy because they have evolved from normal healthy cells.
Unlike an infection, which the body reacts against, the immune system does not react to kill off the offending cancer cells.
Using a virus to carry the gene therapy into the tumour cells, the result is that the cells self-destruct, alerting the patient's immune system that it is time to launch a massive attack.
In two groups of 62 patients, one group received the gene therapy twice and the other group - who all had more aggressive prostate cancer - received the treatment three times.
Both groups also received radiotherapy.
Survival rates after five years were 97% and 94%. Although there was no control group in this study, the researchers said the results showed a five to 20% improvement on previous studies of prostate cancer treatment.
And cancer biopsy tests performed two years after the trial were found to be negative in 83% and 79% of the patients in the two groups.
Dr Brian Butler, from Houston Methodist Hospital in Texas, said it could change the way that cancer is treated.
"We may be able to inject the agent straight into the tumour and let the body kill the cancer cells.
"Once the immune system has knowledge of the bad tumour cells, if they pop up again, the body will know to kill them."
Kevin Harrington, professor of biological cancer therapies at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, said the results were "very interesting" but more research was needed.
"We would need a randomised trial to tell if this treatment is better than radiotherapy alone.
"The viruses used in this study cannot reproduce. Next generation viral therapies for cancer can selectively replicate in cancer cells, something that can kill the cancer cell directly, and also help spread the virus to neighbouring cancer cells.
"It would be interesting to see this approach used with viruses that could reproduce to see if it makes for a more effective treatment."


Deliveroo has said it will increase its staff by a third when it opens a new London head office later this year.

The UK-based food delivery company is the latest tech firm to expand in the capital, planning to hire more than 300 "high-skilled, high-tech" recruits.
Deliveroo reported a 650% rise in takeaway orders last year.
But as it adds more office staff, the firm is coming under growing pressure to give its freelance delivery riders more workers' rights.
A group of Deliveroo couriers working for the company is seeking union recognition.
And it comes after two drivers for the Uber taxi-hailing company won a tribunal case in which they argued they were workers not contractors.
The four-year-old company employs more than 1,000 full-time staff and works with over 20,000 restaurants in 130 cities around the world.
"London is where I founded this company and it's from our headquarters here that we export our British-born technology around the world," said founder and chief executive Will Shu.
Deliveroo has continued to report "rapid" growth in the UK and around the world, despite competing in a crowded marketplace that includes the likes of Uber, Amazon and JustEat, .
The firm has declined to break down its sales figures, although its latest accounts revealed a Â£18.1m loss in 2015.
The recruitment drive includes in areas such as software engineering and algorithm development.
It comes a week after Snap, the company behind messaging app Snapchat, said it had established its non-US office in London.
In November, Facebook said it would hire 500 additional employees in London, and Google committed to opening a new headquarters building in the English capital, which could see 3,000 new jobs created by 2020.


An emergency measure that was credited with stabilising the euro has been referred to Europe's top court.

On Friday, Germany's constitutional court said that the European Central Bank's (ECB) bond-buying scheme could be "incompatible" with EU law.
The European Court of Justice will now decide the legality of the so-called debt "backstop", introduced in 2012.
Although the ECB has not used the emergency power, its existence calmed turmoil in European financial markets.
When he announced the Outright Monetary Transactions (OMT) programme, ECB President Mario Draghi said he would do "whatever it takes" to save the single currency.
But the German court has said there was good reason to think the OMT violated a ban on the bank funding governments.
In a statement, the court added: "There are important reasons to assume that it exceeds the European Central Bank's monetary policy mandate and thus infringes the powers of the member states."
However, the court also said it "considers it possible that if the OMT decision were interpreted restrictively" it could conform with EU law.
By Andrew WalkerBBC World Service Economics correspondent
The ECB has not spent a single euro on the government bond-buying programme announced in 2012. And yet the mere fact that it declared itself willing to act put an end to the turmoil in European financial markets, laying a foundation for a recovery of sorts in the wider economy.
Borrowing costs fell sharply for the eurozone countries in financial stress - notably Italy and Spain. In the meantime, some of the struggling economies have started to grow again and they have made progress in reducing their borrowing needs, so the need for the ECB's backstop has, perhaps, diminished a little.
And the European Court of Justice is seen as less likely to rule against the ECB. The German Court has raised some important questions and created new uncertainty about the response to the crisis. But, in practice, the impact would have been much greater had it come sooner, or not involved a referral to the EU's top judges.
Even though the OMT has not yet been used, confidence was restored to the markets at the suggestion that the ECB could buy unlimited amounts of a country's debt if investors pulled out.
If it were declared illegal, there could be big implications for the bloc and its single currency.
The euro fell to a session low against the dollar in response to the court's finding.
However, it's thought unlikely the European Court of Justice (ECJ) will block the OMT policy.
"The (OMT's) chances are better in Luxembourg than in Karlsruhe," said Bert Van Rossebeke, from the Centre for European Politics in Freiburg.
Gunnar Beck, a European law expert at the University of London, said it would be unusual for the ECJ to obstruct a large, bloc-wide measure.
"Practically speaking, the court is not an independent organisation but is pre-disposed to interpret legal questions in the interest of the European Union," he added.
"The court of justice doesn't take account of national sensibilities... There is no doubt of the outcome now."
Analysts say it could take the ECJ up to two years to rule on the OMT programme.


A two-vehicle collision closed a main road leading to hold-ups in Powys.

The incident happened at Llanymynech near the Cross Keys hotel on Saturday, affecting the A483 until it reopened at about 15:00 BST.
Dyfed-Powys Police said highways officials had put a diversion in place after the collision on the adjacent B4398 road.


Fran Kirby scored twice as reigning champions Chelsea beat Arsenal to go top of the Women's Super League.

Chelsea have now won their opening two games to top WSL 1, while the Gunners have lost two of their first three WSL games and lie fourth.
England forward Kirby nipped in to loft over goalkeeper Sari van Veenendaal for her first, with Jemma Rose unable to prevent her shot crossing the line.
She then smashed in a second from three yards after a goalmouth scramble.
Chelsea lead the table on goal difference, ahead of Manchester City, who have also won their opening two games.
Liverpool will join the pair on six points from their first two outings if they beat Sunderland on Saturday.
Arsenal, for whom Van Veenendaal made a series of fine saves before Kirby's second settled the contest, will meet Chelsea again in the Women's FA Cup final at Wembley on Saturday, 14 May.
Arsenal 0-2 Chelsea as it happened
Chelsea forward Fran Kirby told BT Sport: "We came here to win the game. We want to win every game we can.
"We knew we had to get a result here and happily we did.
"The start of the season has been really good. Overall we're happy but obviously we just need to keep going."
Arsenal boss Pedro Martinez Losa told BT Sport: "It was a poor performance. We made it easier for the opponent.
"With performances like that we can't think about winning the league.
"Against a good team like Chelsea you can't make mistakes. We will try to come back, analyse and do better for the next game."