City beaten by the elements (From Worcester News)

City beaten by the elements

10:27am Monday 6th February 2012 in Sport By Steve Carley, @stevecarleyWN #WENsport

WORCESTER City officials say the club did everything within its power to stop the Gainsborough Trinity match being postponed.

Despite having covers in place, last Saturday’s Blue Square Bet North clash at St George’s Lane was called off because of a frozen pitch.

It is the first City game to fall foul of the elements this season.

Worcester have spent around £2,500 on specialist covers, designed to keep the ground four degrees warmer than the air temperature, in the past year in a bid to get games on and generate vital gate receipts.

Although the covers struggle to cope with extreme conditions, director Mike Davis believes they are an asset to the club.

He said: “We did everything we could have done. We covered the worst half of the pitch on Monday after the game (against Histon).

“On Tuesday we were there all day and got the covers off at noon because it was above freezing so the pitch was exposed to the warmth.

“Then we started putting them all back on just after 3pm. It was hard work but we covered the pitch.

“When we covered it, the pitch would have been playable but we had three nights of frost.”