Skolars pitch deemed unfit for Scorpions match

London Skolars’ match against South Wales Scorpions was postponed due to unfit pitch conditions.

Referee Peter Brooke and match commissioner John Connelly deemed the pitch at the White Hart Lane Community Stadium was unfit to be played on, and postponed the game 30 minutes before kick off.

In a written statement made by former Super League referee Connelly, he said: “Because of the heavy downpour they (stadium ground staff) haven’t had the ability to roll the pitch for a number of weeks now, so the pitch is rutted.

“There is obviously grass that has grown over the ruts so you struggle to see it. There are also divots where the drains have collapsed in places that needs filling in.

The match officials team and Skolars ground staff tried to get the game played on alternative pitches surrounding the stadium’s main pitch. There were two alternatives considered, but neither were viable options according to Connelly.

Continuing the statement, he said: “We tried to get the game on the pitch above. It’s a better pitch but it’s not sterile and we will struggle to try and get the game on there.

“The alternative third pitch across the road is rutted, but that’s hard albeit it is sterile. We would struggle to fill that in as well. The pitch is hard so we couldn’t even roll that.”

South Wales Scorpions chairman Phil Davis was devastated to have travelled across the M4 to north London, and expressed his sincere gratitude to the fans who had made the journey.

He said: “We’d like to apologise to the fans as we had a good support who had made their way up. We are bitterly disappointed the match couldn’t go ahead as planned after making a four hour trip to be here today.

A London Skolars spokesman said: “The bad weather has meant that the pitch hasn’t been rolled and with rapid grass growth over divots created at the Oldham game, that’s exacerbated the problems.

“It’s disappointing for the game to be postponed at such late notice, both for the travelling contingent from South Wales and for our fans, some of which also have significant journeys from the other side of London to get here.”