Frozen pitch hits City’s hopes of bank holiday boost (From Worcester News)

Frozen pitch hits City’s hopes of bank holiday boost

4:30pm Thursday 1st January 2009

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By Steve Carley »

WORCESTER City are counting the cost of seeing their New Year's Day match against Newport County fall foul of the weather.

Cash-strapped City were hoping for a bumper gate at St George’s Lane for yesterday’s Blue Square South clash but the fixture was called off because of a frozen pitch following an inspection.

A large attendance would have provided the club’s coffers with a much-needed boost at the start of 2009, barely a week after the bank agreed to continue their support.

The game was a chance for Richard Dryden’s side to avenge their 1-0 Boxing Day defeat in South Wales.

The re-arranged fixture is now likely to take place on a Monday night, although a date is yet to be set.

Manager Dryden said: “You can see why it was off but I am extremely disappointed and it would have been a great game for us financially on New Year’s Day.

“I spoke to Newport manager Dean Holdsworth and they were expecting to bring a few hundred fans with them. Whether they can reproduce that on a mid-week night has to be seen.

“We have lost a lot of revenue just when we needed it but for the club it’s another hurdle we have got to overcome.”

The postponement does, however, give City’s injury-hit squad extra time to recover in time for tomorrow’s trip to Hayes and Yeading.

Defender Graham Ward had been ruled out of facing the Exiles but squad players Rob Davies and Jordan Fitzpatrick were among those waiting in the wings for their opportunity.

“The pitch is unplayable so we can't train on it.

“The positive side is we will be a bit fresher for Saturday,” Worcester boss Dryden said.

“It gives us another day to prepare for Hayes and Yeading. Graham Ward has got another day to rest but it doesn’t gloss over the fact we would rather have had a game.”