Staines Town P
Tonbridge P
Programme: £1
Mileage: 136/4,092
A Friday afternoon postponement of Gillingham’s home game against Aldershot left me with a Saturday hole to fill with the knowledge that the big freeze that had engulfed Kent for a week would make it a difficult task.So on Saturday morning I was feeling pretty chuffed that Staines v Tonbridge, Ryman’s second versus third had survived an 11 a.m. pitch inspection but took note that there would be a further inspection by the match referee at 1 p.m. So with Staines Town Football Club telephone number punched into the mobile I set out with my car temperature gauge showing -4.5degC sitting on my drive.
At 1.30 p.m. and before I entered the M25 I took the precaution of phoning Staines, upon which I was told that the game had survived the latest inspection and the game was on. All the way round the M25 until my exit at Junction 13 the temperature never rose beyond
-2degC and I was left wondering if Staines had some sort of micro-climate.
As I entered Staines it was the picture of winter beauty, everything was a glistening white and the temperature had dropped a further degree. I started to despair and realised that the worse was about to happen when I spotted a couple of Tonbridge supporters walking in the opposite direction to the one I was heading.
Three hours driving time, 136 mile round trip wasted. Take a look at the pictures below how could anybody pass this pitch fit to play at any time? But to pass it twice is beyond a joke.
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