Beyond the call of duty

By Adrian Kajumba -

DIRECTOR of football Dave Malone praised head groundsman Tony Shiner for going beyond the call of duty to try and get Eastleigh's Boxing Day clash against Farnborough on.

Shiner, who works at the club on a part-time basis, spent a significant part of his Christmas Day at the Silverlake Stadium trying to clear snow, ice and frost off the pitch.

His efforts looked like they had paid off when he headed for home on Saturday.

But sub zero temperatures and further frost overnight meant the pitch was frozen solid by the time the referee conducted his match morning pitch inspection and he had little option but to call the game off.

Shiner's hard work didn't go unnoticed, though.

"He spent most of Christmas Day clearing snow and frost off the pitch," Malone said.

"I just popped in to see what it was like and he was there trying to disperse frost and ice.

"He spent hours on it.

"He was going around on his tractor and looked like he was freezing to death.

"He probably just about got it fit to play.

"But the temperature dropped again and it was like an ice rink in places like the centre circle.

"He was there again first thing in the morning but we were back to square one.

"Tony couldn't have done anymore and to say 'thanks' is not enough.

"They are like the unsung heroes, groundsmen at this level.

"They get little or no recognition and he has done all that hard work and ended up with nothing."

Malone felt the decision to postpone the game was the right one.

"There was no way the game could go ahead," he continued.

"The referee took three paces on the pitch and called it off and rightly so.

"It was not safe."

Manager Ian Baird added: "I was confident the game would be on when we trained their on Christmas Eve.

"But I was there at half nine this morning and the pitch was like an ice rink."

With a fully-fit squad and jam-packed schedule coming up, Baird was keen to get the game played - but accepts there is little he can do about the current weather.

"We are okay now," the former Saint reported.

"Everyone is fit and available.

"We just needed to get it played.

"We have got 14 games coming up between now and the first week of February which is a big ask.

"But a lot of people are in the same boat and we have just got to get on with it.

"We can't do anything about it."