Heath's derby with Loxwood postponed with pitch looking '˜like a lake'

There could be few complaints as Broadbridge Heath's derby clash with Loxwood on Tuesday fell foul of the weather - with the Leisure Centre pitch looking more like a pond.
By The Newsroom
Published 31st Mar 2016, 08:30 BST

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Broadbridge Heath's pitch at the Leisure Centre was left waterloggedBroadbridge Heath's pitch at the Leisure Centre was left waterlogged
Broadbridge Heath's pitch at the Leisure Centre was left waterlogged

With the pitch having had a club inspection during the day and Broadbridge Heath Leisure Centre staff keeping an eye on it, a late deluge of heavy and constant rain resulted in the match being called off at around 6.15pm.

All players had arrived at the ground, but the two hours of rain had taken its toll.

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Heath boss Steve Painter said: “We spoke to the leisure centre twice during the day and Andy (Crisp, secretary) had looked at the pitch at 12pm, and said it didn’t need an inspection.

“I left work at 5pm and by the time I got to the ground there was standing water, by half six, it was like a lake.

“It was one of those things, we were all there ready to play and even their players said ‘we can’t play on that’.”

Heath were hoping to take the momentum from their 4-1 win at Hailsham Town on Saturday into the match (report on page 91).

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In that game, despite strong winds and missing a number of players, they got back to winning ways.

Painter said: “It was a good win as the wind was terrible, it was blowing from one end of the pitch to the other. It was always going to be a game of two halves.

“But in the first half we did really well with the wind blowing right into us, even the goalkeeper’s kick were going straight back to him.

“It was a good performance on the back of the Chichester result and an excellent result and confidence we needed going into the Loxwood game.

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“We managed the conditions better than them, with respect, had a bit more quality than them and the scoreline flattered them a bit as we could have scored a few more.”

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