Winter Sports - Football “


The forecast showed temperatures dropping again to minus 2O


C, so the


undersoil heating was turned on for the first time this season as soon as the lads got in to work


Frosty pitch on 11th November


experience as the lads couldn’t see far and often each other! We again had some wet and mild weather and, this time, the disease appeared overnight on the 20th, more candyfloss mycelium patches evident across the surface. I had reports that disease was rife everywhere so, despite having to spray again, I didn’t feel that we were alone. A mix of 10 litres of Proteb and 10 litres of Chipco Green was used, along with 5 litres of Phosphite and 20 litres of iron on the 21st. On the 23rd, we put down a full rate 300kg of 3:3:12 to help boost the strength of the plant, now the disease had been firmly stopped in its tracks. The fixture list had been a little bit kinder


Fog decends - 17th December


We now hadn’t done any aeration for a month, but the pitch was taking rain and irrigation very well and the ‘unstable’ west side was playing much better


” The pitch on 14th December 52 I PC FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017


to us over the festive period, with no game now until the 2nd of January. The pitch was monitored over the next week or so, with just the daily moving of the lighting rigs, which took ten minutes one day to push the wheels over a little and about forty-five minutes every second day to move the rigs to a new position. The weather was wet and wild over


Christmas, so the pitch didn’t lack moisture.


5mm of rain fell overnight into New Year’s day, but the forecast showed temperatures dropping again to minus 2O


C, so the


undersoil heating was turned on for the first time this season as soon as the lads got in to work.


The pitch was mown in one direction and


marked out ready for the game the next day against Huddersfield. The irrigation was set for a 3 hour watering at 7.00pm and 4.00am on the match day. The heating stopped the pitch freezing, but there was some frost on the leaf due to the necessity to water in cold conditions. Although the pitch was losing grass through the middle, the surface was playing well enough and there was still near 100% cover in the goalmouths and the wings.


The pitch was divoted and rotary mowed


after the game and then proper repairs started the next day. More rain proceeded and followed another heavy frost that impacted on how much work could be carried out, but the surface was rolled again with the Allett cylinder mowers in advance of the FA Cup 3rd tie against Nottingham Forest on the 7th. There was drizzle throughout the


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