Torquay United v Oxford City 26/1/19

[culmstockgull]

Not going to mention the match as most contributors have spelt it out, but that pitch, it was awful. Now I no longer live in the bay but have you had a monsoon in Torquay over the last fortnight, did we stop making the down payments on the drainage system, out local village football pitch is in better condition than Plainmoor. This is no slight on our ground staff but bearing in mind we play fast attacking football it makes that proposition very difficult when one half of the pitch is a building site. I realise the ground share must have played its part but it has been several weeks since any competitive match has been played there.

[grockle]

Woking are having similar problems. At least that makes a level playing field!

[portugull]

In August the pitch was wonderful to behold. The best I have ever seen.

80% of the reason for the deterioration is the ground share with Truro City.

20% is that there are 4 small areas in front the Bench were the drainage may be at fault still. I could be wrong but no doubt someone will tell me if I have got it wrong!

[nickbrod]

If you talk to Julian the groundsman you'll learn that the mud that's built up along Bristows that won't allow water to drain and Bristows stopping sunshine reaching that side combine to make that area what it is. That could have happened regardless of Truro playing on it. The 'problem' dates back to the poor pitch considerations when Bristows was built.

[fred]

If you talk to Julian the groundsman you'll learn that the mud that's built up along Bristows that won't allow water to drain and Bristows stopping sunshine reaching that side combine to make that area what it is. That could have happened regardless of Truro playing on it. The 'problem' dates back to the poor pitch considerations when Bristows was built.

Agree in part, I went to watch a test match at Old Trafford a couple of years ago and watched 2 hours play before a horrendous downpour. Play was called off for the whole day as the section in front of the new stand was waterlogged and would not drain. All the locals were saying it was never like it before the stand was built. I still think the Truro situation has not helped though.

[arcadia]

One of the home Truro games should not have been played water was all down the Bristows Stand side and the ball would not run the ground cut up badly and the pitch has not recovered since. Garry complained discreetly in the press but was very careful with his words.

[dawlishmatt]

Its quite ironic really. Last saturday jake andrews missed from the penalty spot and today he scores direct from a corner !!!!!! Dont you just love the unpredictable game that is football.

[Whydoibother]

What a game to miss!!! Day with my daughter and couldn't believe it when I saw half time score. You can imagine the amount of stick I've had, next home game will be back to 2 or 3

[nickbrod]

Agree in part, I went to watch a test match at Old Trafford a couple of years ago and watched 2 hours play before a horrendous downpour. Play was called off for the whole day as the section in front of the new stand was waterlogged and would not drain. All the locals were saying it was never like it before the stand was built. I still think the Truro situation has not helped though.

But what if we had a reserve side, as in the past playing in the Western League, playing on it instead of recently Truro?

[fred]

But what if we had a reserve side, as in the past playing in the Western League, playing on it instead of recently Truro?

Perhaps the the new stand and the extra games from the Truro deal have contributed to what we saw today. I think the pitch was our only weak link today. Really bad for a professional side. Also really bad for us as I believe we play a great passing game which is a leveler in mud!!!

[gateman49]

If my maths is right, we've scored 28 in the last 7 home matches, that's 4 per game!

[Modgull]

Not sure I agree. Sides able and willing to play football can make defences look silly in those conditions and that's what happened today. Defenders just could not turn and attackers could ghost past them. We have some players whose ball skills will favour us in such conditions.

[MellowYellow]

Match quote of the week - Mark Jones - Oxford City Manager

"the difference between Torquay United and Oxford City is like night and day, they have got more stewards than we've got players"

[culmstockgull]

So, if I understand the comments correctly the area in front of Bristows will never be up to much due to the design of the stand, now there are situations which you can rightly say are never going to change and they are out of our control, this is not one of them, their is a video on youtube about the courts at Wimbledon where the use of industrial daylight, heat lamps can make grass grow in 48 hours with the bonus of drying out the ground, I know our grass is probably the wrong grass but it must be worth investigating.

[lucy6lucy]

I fully expect us to pull away from the rest now. Another good run to turn the screw and in my opinion there's nobody good enough to match us over the next dozen or so games.

We’ve been waiting for Woking to slip up for ages, we got away big time last Saturday when losing to bath and Woking drawing. But today marks a significant step in our quest for the title, Woking Losing to 10 men Wealdstone at home . With the players high in confidence, there financial security secured for next season, the Bristol lads are doing there own contracts no harm. We have to play each game by game, but apart from Woking away, who would you fancy beating us. It’s in our control now. Our full time status with a championship manager will hopefully get us over the line. Jesus I miss those north west matches . As for the result, congratulations to everyone especially Andrews, he will be on cloud 9 tonight.