Wisbech Rugby Club's EDF Vase clash postponed again

By ADAM LAZZARI WISBECH Rugby Club s crunch national EDF Energy Junior Vase match with Lowestoft and Yarmouth has been put back to next Saturday (February 21). The sides are battling for a quarter-final place and the match was supposed to be played at Har

By ADAM LAZZARI

WISBECH Rugby Club's crunch national EDF Energy Junior Vase match with Lowestoft and Yarmouth has been put back to next Saturday (February 21).

The sides are battling for a quarter-final place and the match was supposed to be played at Harecroft Road last Saturday but was postponed because the pitch was unfit due to snow and ice.

It was rescheduled for tomorrow but pitch inspections this week and forecasts of sub-zero temperatures have resulted in the two clubs agreeing to a second postponement, which the Rugby Football Union approved.

Wisbech head coach Steve Drawbridge said on Tuesday: "The pitch is about 80 per cent below water today. There is a lot of snow and ice and it doesn't look like any of it is going anywhere fast."

If the pitch is playable tomorrow, Wisbech will play an Eastern Counties Division One match against mid-table Stowmarket.

Drawbridge said: "It's easier to call off league games late on than it is to call of the Vase game. The referee has some distance to travel and we would expect a bigger crowd than we would get for a league game."

Drawbridge has been looking for alternative training venues this week including indoor facilities at the Thomas Clarkson Community College and the Hudson Leisure Centre.

He said: "It's been quite frustrating for the guys. They've been fired up and itching to play this match but there's nothing else we can do.

"I'd expect us to have some good training sessions this week and I'd be disappointed with anything less than a victory from the Stowmarket clash, if it is played."

Wisbech reached the quarter-finals of the EDF Energy Vase for the first time last season but went down 23-8 to Castleford.