Eastleigh v Dover postponed

[tenacres]

www.eastleighfc.com/statement-dover-game-off/

Eastleigh Football Club can confirm that our National League game with Dover Athletic scheduled for this afternoon has been postponed due to the inclement weather.

The club went to great lengths to get the game on, and with overnight rain forecast, a pitch inspection was called for 8am.

This morning, the pitch was inspected by a match official, and was deemed too wet to play on in parts. With conditions due to worsen throughout the day, the decision was made to postpone the game early enough so as to not impact on travel plans for supporters and players alike.

The club would like to thank the National League and Dover Athletic for their cooperation on this matter.

A new date for the fixture will be arranged in due course.

[michaelefc]

I guessed this. Well done the club for getting the news out nice and early.

[horseymchorseface]

I’m sure Dover fans very grateful for getting the news out early

[thelake]

Let’s hope the lads don’t get too rusty, been quite a gap without a game

[bassfisher]

So it’s the only game in theNL that’s postponed? Why’s that then? Are we under two feet of snow or had torrential rain all week? I think not, we’ve had a little overnight rain that’s all!

[horseymchorseface]

Probably nicer and more polite to thank all the people who tried to get the game on. Unless you were down there at 6am helping out? No, thought not.

[bassfisher]

Yes, we’ll done and thanks to those that made the effort, it is genuinely appreciated, BUT my questions remain! Why? I had a family group lined up for the game, some came from London so my disappointment is raw!

[taylov]

If it was anything like my garden in SO30 you wouldn't be able to walk on the grass let alone play football.

[barnseyefc]

Mar 10, 2018 15:47:24 GMT bassfisher said:

Yes, we’ll done and thanks to those that made the effort, it is genuinely appreciated, BUT my questions remain! Why? I had a family group lined up for the game, some came from London so my disappointment is raw!

Hi Bassfisher,

Firstly I completely sympathise with your disappointment, it's never nice to have a game called off.

To try and answer some of your questions...

As of 2pm Friday afternoon the pitch had been fully prepared ahead of today's fixture. It had absorbed the previous snow and held up well to the large thaw, considering between last Saturday and today we had a fairly wet week with lots of persistent showers. The pitch was covered when necessary throughout the week in order to prevent anymore moisture reaching the pitch (this is normal practice). Between 2pm yesterday and 8am this morning we had in the region of 25mm rainfall. With the localised water table extremely high in the area due to recent weather the water simply had nowhere to go. We covered the pitch in preparation for the overnight downpours and verti drained areas in the middle of the pitch in order to remove any surface water to the deeper levels of the pitch profile.

At 7am this morning unfortunately areas of the pitch which are not normally prone to retaining water did have some standing water. Supersoakers were used excessively to remove this water, however as previously mentioned with the water table so high it simply resulted in water rising back up to the surface as quickly as we could get it off. After looking at the forcast for today and taking it to account that heavy rain was also predicted between 10am - 1pm we decided to call an inspection at 8am so that we could make an early call and save the wasted journeys of fans, especially those travelling form Dover.

I think you will find that the reason we may well have been the only team to suffer from this weather and the outcome of postponement is the fact that a heavy band of rain had worked it's way from the south in a northern direction throughout the day. Unfortunately for us we battled with this weather in the difficult period of time leading up to the match, where as others may have seen the effects of the weather later on today. Very unlucky with the timing of it.

No one is more disappointed than the groundstaff who will always go above and beyond to get games on and will take whatever action possible to ensure the pitch is fit for play.

I'm extremely pleased with how the pitch has held up during the season so far, but sometimes we simply cannot control the weather and other variable factors that take their toll on the pitch. It's been one of the wettest winters for a long time, we will continue to work hard to make sure it's the best it can be.

Thanks

[taylov]

A great day considering we didn't play - Of the bottom 5, Barrow, Solihull, Torquay and Guiseley all lost and Chester play tomorrow. Of the teams around us only Gateshead (7-1 vs Maidenhead) and Halifax (3-1 v Woking) took all 3 points.

[durkiboy]

Well said Dan, us fans know how hard you and the groundstaff work, you have done so well with the pitch this season, also, with the pitch being like it is, there would also be the risk of injury, so personally, I think the right decision was made. Keep up the good work!

[baconroll]

Thanks Dan very good update as for bassfisher again just looking for a bite.

[michaelefc]

A tribute to Dan and the team, that he bothered to take the trouble to explain exactly what had happened. I made a late dash to see QPR beat Sunderland, so I had a great day!

[bassfisher]

I’m a fan, and I live locally by the way! I also appreciate everyone’s work to get the pitch to a playable standard.
Fact is the weather hasn’t been that bad and the pitch should have been able to cope, without volunteers etc
Let’s not pretend otherwise?

[monkeyboy]

Well we’ve learnt two things today. 1. Taylov’s garden isn’t fit for national league football and 2.horseymchorseface and bassfisher are the same person, aka Willk. Jesus get a life. Barnseyefc don’t worry about it most people know you do your best.