Squad for Sunday 26th Jan. (Away to Highgate Redwing)
Our next scheduled match this coming Sunday is Away to Highgate Redwing.
They play at Broxbourne Recreation Ground, which is in the same road as Broxbourne railway station...about 100 yards away if anybody wants to get a train there from Hackney, Holloway or Finsbury Park via Seven Sisters or Edmonton Green !? We have never played at this venue before so I am not sure where to park if you are driving there. You certainly cannot park in Station Road or Mill Lane.
Full details will be on the Forthcoming Fixtures page once I find out more from their Club Secretary.
Training is on this Wednesday as normal and the squad for the Highgate Redwing match will be announced on here on Thursday morning.
The only player who has told me he is unavailable so far is TJ, who is now working on Sundays until further notice.
We have not been given a fixture (yet again) for Sunday 2nd February, so working on Sundays instead is probably a sensible choice at the moment.
Re: Squad for Sunday 26th Jan. (Away to Highgate Redwing)
The squad of 16 for this match is as follows: Mal Saphiris (GK)
Lexton Harrison
Alan Barnard
Terry Moore
George Stahlmann
Garry Cover
Danny Hagan
Daniel Cascoe
Jack Bangs
Leon McKenzie-McKay
Daniel Daley
Riaz Daniels
John Scouller
Tom Simmons
Krishan Singh
Ryan Foreman
As regards whether the game will be on or not, unfortunately it looks highly unlikely at the moment that the pitch will be playable. The Highgate Redwing Secretary told me on Monday that it was badly flooded last Sunday, then it chucked it down on Tuesday night and more heavy rain is forecast for this morning (Thursday) and all day tomorrow (Friday)...which is when they will be doing a pitch inspection. The weather forecast for Sunday itself is absolutely horrendous with torrential rain and gale-force winds.
Apparently the pitch belongs to a Church and the Highgate Redwing Secretary is one of a group of trustees who decides whether it is playable or not. It is not a Broxbourne Council pitch, so sometimes they allow games to take place whatever the conditions. Our new goalkeeper Mal was at training last night and he has played over there before for Enfield Crusaders. He said it is the worst pitch in the League for getting flooded because it has a big dip in the middle. He has played on there when the ball has just constantly got stuck in the mud/water.
As usual, an automated message from Teamer will let you know if the game gets called off. If by some miracle it is on, then myself and Trevor will text everybody on Saturday morning to find out who is prepared to play.
As regards parking at the venue, you have to park in Church View, which is the first turning on the right as you drive into Station Road from Broxbourne High Street. That road is behind one goal, but the changing rooms are at the other end of the pitch. If there is no parking space left in Church View, you will just have to park in Station Road and block the two-way traffic. It's one of those where if you are the first car doing that, it feels a bit embarrassing.
Re: Squad for Sunday 26th Jan. (Away to Highgate Redwing)
Enfield Council have already called Hazelwood off for the weekend, but not Enfield Playing Fields or any other pitches in the Borough...just yet.
It's the underground reservoir from the river that is causing the problem where it floods the pitches from underneath and the water has nowhere to drain to. Same as it did back in 2002/2003 when we were unable to play there for three months. Not looking good.
St. Mary's were supposed to be using the pitch this Sunday...and next.
Re: Squad for Sunday 26th Jan. (Away to Highgate Redwing)
Just received from Enfield Council (as sent to all clubs)...
'Please be advised that your sports pitch booking in Parks and Open Spaces has been cancelled due to weather conditions for Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th January 2014.
As you know we have experienced very heavy rainfall over the past 3-4 weeks which has prevented our parks staff from marking out the pitches and also tractor access for general maintenance. Parks Operations are making every effort to get pitches fit for play, we are planning to verti-drain the pitches as soon as ground conditions allow, this operation may help the water to drain but this is subject to periods of dry weather in the next week or so.
Re: Squad for Sunday 26th Jan. (Away to Highgate Redwing)
Highgate Redwing have informed me that they have cleared excess water off the pitch, forked it, and marked the lines out, so at the moment (as of Friday evening), the game is ON.
The weather forecast is for more rain tonight and also on Saturday night though, while the forecast is still horrendous for Sunday daytime, so the game still could get called off at any time, including by the Referee when we get there.
Please do NOT take a risk and arrange to do something else just yet.