Supporters rue last minute venue switch

SUPPORTERS have criticised Ashford Town after their home pre-season friendly with Dover Athletic was switched to Crabble at very, very short notice this afternoon, writes Stephen McCartney.

The match was due to kick off at The Homelands at 3 o’clock this afternoon, but with at least 90 minutes to go until kick-off, match referee Mr Bob Smith and both managers deemed the pitch dangerous as it had glass and stones on it.

Both clubs agreed to switch the match onto the pristine playing surface at Dover Athletic’s Crabble home, and despite kicking off fifteen minutes late, and offering free admission, Andy Hessenthaler’s side went onto win the game 5-2.

Ashford Town’s press officer, Sam Dixon, issued the following message on the club’s fans’ forum at www.ashfordtownfc.co.uk just 70 minutes before the intended kick off time - a bit too late as most people would have left home by then.

“Due to problems with the Homelands pitch, this afternoon’s pre-season friendly against Dover Athletic has been moved to the Crabble,” he wrote.

“Both sides decided that the pitch is not quite playable and will be safer to move it.

“Ashford Town would like to apologise for the late change and hope fans are still able to get down to the Crabble.”

Nuts & Bolts’ co-owner, Don Crosbie, who wants to build a sports village on the site, later explained why the derby match had to be switched.

“The problem had arisen this morning after heavy watering to speed the new grass growth on the trench lines that have little grass as yet,” he said.

“The heavy watering has washed the fine soil and exposed small stones and this was not evident until the pitch was walked at one o’clock.

“With an hours stone picking from two or three people would have relieved the situation.

“There has been a huge amount of work on the pitch and I apologise if it is not quite ready but things do not always go to plan but at the moment it is becoming a thankless task trying to please everyone.

“It would be useful for people to air their frustrations with restraint as this for me is a labour of love and when I see the tremendous efforts from a handful of people, I can only show patience if things do not go according to plan.

“The club is predominately run by volunteers and we must all remember this important fact.

“Once again I apologise for those that have been put out by today’s re-arrangements.”

Mr Crosbie also said that he’ll be at the ground at 10 o’clock on Sunday morning to make sure Tuesday night’s home game with Welling United goes ahead and that all help from supporters would be appreciated.

Dover boss Andy Hessenthaler, meanwhile, didn’t mind making the last-minute dash back to Crabble.

But the former Gillingham ace didn’t point any blame, agreeing with his opposite number Steve Lovell to switch the venue.

“To be fair to Steve Lovell, he didn’t see the pitch himself until lunchtime - and agreed we couldn’t play on it,” Hessenthaler told www.doverathletic.com.

“But we got the game on - that was the most important thing - and it proved a great exercise for us.

“I was disappointed with the two goals we conceded, both at the start of each half. Very sloppy from us.

“When you consider, we’ve let in as many goals today as we did against Charlton and Dagenham, it tells you the story.

“Apart from that, I thought we were good at the back today and was delighted with a number of performances. We’re shaping up nicely.”

Today’s farce at Ashford, meanwhile, is not the only pre-season match that hasn’t gone according to plan this summer.

Ten games have either switched venue or cancelled due to pitch or team selection problems.

But Ashford Town now face a race against time to get their pitch playable as three of their next four friendlies are at home - and they kick-off their Ryman League Division One South campaign with a home game against Walton Casuals in just 21 days time.

Visit Ashford Town’s website: www.ashfordtownfc.co.uk.