An opportunity to address some much needed drainage issues with the pitch at Kingscote Park has arisen this week.

A 30m wide area of the pitch between the 10m and 40m lines at the club house end and on the Nethway Avenue side of the pitch has been causing concern for the last couple of years. Each year the area is last to dry out at the start of the season and first to hold water at the end of the season, essentially stopping play on the whole of the pitch and gradually shortening the season. This year the area wasn’t fully playable until early April. COVID 19 restrictions meant we weren’t able to play until 24th April, so it meant we were able to manage. Hopefully in 2022 COVID restrictions won’t be a factor and we will need the pitch available for play from mid February.

Bethells, the Councils ground works contractors, are on site this week addressing another issue in the Park and have offered to do the necessary works whilst they are on site as part of their community partnership program.

Although short notice the works will start immediately and take a couple of days to complete leaving the surface to fully recover ready for play in six weeks time, obviously subject to ongoing weather conditions.

All home games during the six week recovery period will be switched to away venues. This leaves the fixture schedule a little in balanced with a lot of away games at the start of the season with the home games coming later. Chairman, Simon Hornby, said “whilst it’s not ideal to have a long schedule of away fixtures, rather than a home away home away, the opportunity to have the works done at no direct cost to the club was to good to miss”.