Kentish Football 
Leiston call off Hythe Town's ridiculous trip to Suffolk
Friday 03rd December 2010
UPDATE: MATCH POSTPONED
Martin Giles telephoned at 19:45 to confirm that the match has been postponed. The game has been sensibly re-arranged for Saturday 11 December.
He said: “Leiston have called it off now. They’ve decided that the football pitch is quite full of snow and it’s quite a lot of work to get it off and it’s got very cold. None of those things are surprising, it’s now off.”
Here is the article before this news was confirmed.
HYTHE TOWN may be forced to travel through snow and ice to play their FA Carlsberg Vase Third Round tie in Suffolk tomorrow, writes Stephen McCartney.
The whole country may be covered in snow and ice - but Ridgeons League side Leiston obviously don’t have any common sense and are pulling out all the stops to ensure the game goes ahead.
Hythe Town secretary Martin Giles confirmed to www.kentishfootball.co.uk on Friday evening that there will be an eight o’clock pitch inspection at Victory Road on Saturday morning - and he hopes that common sense prevails and the game is called off and re-arranged for 11 December.
Mr Giles, who is fearing the 294-mile round trip if the game is passed, said: “The match is on at the moment, they’re having an eight o’clock pitch inspection tomorrow morning.
“Only a sensible man would recommend anything else other than a postponement.
“They’ve said they’ve had less snow up there, they’re clearing the pitch tonight. I know what might happen when you do that.”
Scott Porter’s side - like many others - have not been able to train during the week as snow has caused major disruption, with trains cancelled or stranded on icy tracks; traffic coming to a halt on Kent roads and hundreds of schools closed.
Mr Giles added: “They won’t make us travel because that will be at their cost. The coach has got to turn out and it’s going to be halfway down the road before we can turn it back.
“We’re leaving Hythe at nine o’clock and the pitch inspection is at eight o’clock so if the (Leiston) guys are on time and we get some sort of notification we should be able to stop supporters coming out for the coach.
“It seems to be a ridiculous thing really.
If the pitch is playable, then players will be picked up at Reachfields Stadium, in Ashford and Maidstone, and will make the journey, which on a good day, according to The AA, takes three hours.
Mr Giles said: “They’re all going to go on the coach, there’s not a problem, they’re all fairly local. They’ll get on at Ashford and Maidstone and that will be it.
“It shouldn’t be a problem but it’s just unnecessarily at this time of the year.
“What can you do? The FA say you can only call it off without a pitch inspection if both teams agree. We’ll obviously we would be happy for it to be called off, but they’re not so therefore there will be a pitch inspection. They’re entitled to have a pitch inspection in the morning so that’s what they’ve opted for. That’s the rules of the competition so we’ve got to get on with it.”
Leiston reached the fourth qualifying round of the FA Cup this season, where they lost in a replay away at Blue Square Bet South side Dartford, having defeated Folkestone Invicta at the second attempt in the Second Qualifying Round and are a good side full of players, for example, that have played for AFC Sudbury.
Ramsgate’s home Ryman League Division One South clash against Eastbourne Town will be subject to a 9:30am pitch inspection on Saturday morning.
All other games involving Kent sides have been postponed.
Meanwhile, postponed FA Carlsberg Vase ties involving Beckenham Town, Herne Bay and Tunbridge Wells have been re-arranged for next Saturday, 11 December.
Visit Hythe Town’s website: www.hythetownfc.co.uk
Leiston v Hythe Town
FA Carlsberg Vase Third Round
Saturday 4th December 2010
Kick Off 3:00pm
At Victory Road, Leiston, Suffolk IP16 4DQ
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