Wessex washout is not worst news for Moneys

The rains returned to the south coast to wipe out tonight's Wessex League premier division programme.

Both derbies at AFC Portchester versus Fareham Town and Moneyfields against Horndean were washed out by the afternoon downpour.

Moneys boss Dave Carter felt it was a blessing in disguise.

He said: ‘To be honest we were struggling badly with injuries.

‘This would have been our fifth game in 10 days and it is starting to take its toll.

‘It is all our senior players over 30 years old who have got the knocks.

‘And the likes of Alex Miroy, Dan Gauntlett, Alex Shephard, Tom Chapman and Gavin Spurway are all carrying injuries.

‘In a way it was a good thing the rains came.

‘Our pitch was fantastic up until about 5.30pm when a massive downpour left it waterlogged.

‘Up until then it had looked pretty firm but it has had a lot of rain on it in the last few days.’

Carter is hoping his team have got over the worst of their fixture backlog after packing in the games in recent weeks.

They have all but caught up with other teams which should help in the closing weeks of the season.

‘We were the only team playing three games a week in the last fortnight and that put us at a bit of a disadvantage,’ said Carter.

‘Other teams are having to start doing that now and that will start to show in their squads.’

Portchester and Fareham will try again on Thursday evening after the Wicor Rec pitch was left unplayable.

Reds boss Steve Stone agreed there was little chance the game could have gone ahead.

He said: ‘I arrived at the ground at about quarter to six and the corners were flooded.

‘We had to re-arrange it quickly because we are running out of available dates.

‘My squad is still down to the bare 12 and I am working hard at trying to get players in before Friday’s transfer deadline.

‘Obviously that limits my options because I cannot go for players who need a seven-day approach or those that require international clearance.’

In Wessex League division one, United Services Portsmouth manager Bob Brady was also left frustrated by the weather.

They were due to host Pewsey Vale at Burnaby Road but the weather led to a late postponement.

‘We were working hard to clear the standing water on the pitch but a final deluge scuppered our efforts,’ said Brady.