Academy game a washout after deluge
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WICK Academy are set to invest in improving their pitch at Harmsworth Park after it once again became waterlogged, forcing them to postpone another match.
Club officials had no option but to call off the Highland League match against Huntly on Saturday, as heavy rain which fell during the morning flooded the South Road end of the stadium.
The match looked like it was going to be given the green light at 7.30am when the pitch survived subzero conditions which had forced the cancellation of the rest of the league’s fixtures across the rest of the North.
Ground staff had been working all week in an effort to get the game on and had conditions remained the same during the early morning, the fixture would have been fulfilled.
But a two-hour downpour took its toll and at 9.40am the game was officially called off with the visiting side already on its way to the county.
Chairman Colin Stewart said that the club is planning to hold a meeting to discuss improvements to the pitch to avoid similar scenarios next season.
"Throughout this season we have suffered from a drainage problem at the bottom of the park which has forced us to call off games," he said.
"As a result we will be carrying out improvement work on that one particular area of the pitch during the close season to rectify the problem.
"The biggest problem area of the pitch is the bottom corner of the 18-yard box which always seems to suffer, but the rest of the park holds up well.
"At 7.30am on Saturday the pitch was playable, but the volume of rain which fell in the following two hours affected the whole of the park.
"We looked at the forecast for the whole of Saturday which said that the heavy rain was set to continue and despite the best efforts of staff to clear the pitch of water it failed a second inspection.
"We carried out remedial work on the pitch last week and had the game been arranged for Sunday, it would have been playable."
Saturday’s call off was the seventh game that Wick Academy have been forced to rearrange to the end of the season and the fourth due to adverse weather conditions.
The Scorries will be looking at a run of seven consecutive weeks playing at Harmsworth Park as all matches set to be rearranged are home fixtures.
But Mr Stewart said that this year has seen a vast improvement on last season, where the club went for two months without a match due to the winter conditions.
Despite constant drainage problems, he stressed that the pitch is suitable for Highland League matches.
"We’ve had games called off, but no more than any other club in the league," he said. "If you look at the table, there are other clubs that have had more games which have been called off than us.
"Some of our matches have also been called off due to cup commitments, so from that point of view we’re not in any worse a situation. But the volume of rain which has come down the past few months has been unprecedented and the pitch hasn’t coped.
"Avoiding adverse weather conditions, the pitch is in a perfect state for playing football."
The Scottish Highland League is set to hold a meeting in Lossiemouth on Thursday to discuss when in the spring rearranged fixtures are due to be played.
