Pitch criticism as Hythe & Dibden win in Petersfield mud bath

HYTHE & DIBDEN FC moved into joint second place in Sydenhams Division One after a 4-3 win on a Petersfield pitch that by the end of 90 minutes resembled a cow field!

Hythe took the three points in a seven-goal mud fest that has attracted much criticism across Twitter and other social media platforms.

After the game Petersfield Town FC tweeted: “The referee somehow deemed this ‘playable’ today despite constant protests from both sides to have the game abandoned. Not once was the safety of the players taken in to account. Standing water on the pitch even before kick-off and got worse throughout. @SydWessex @HampshireFA”

They added: “Surely utter madness to allow a match to take place in dangerous conditions like this. Would be interesting to know in what detail the @FA defines unplayable conditions. Surely there should be sensible guidelines to guide the ref’s decision?”

Meanwhile Southern Ground Care tweeted: “Another pitch ruined”

Back on the pitch, it ended 3-4 to Hythe & Dibden thanks to a Filippos Terzidis hat-trick and a single from Wayne O’Dell. Callum Coker bagged a double and Harry Giles a single for The Rams.

Hythe boss Terry Cox told the A&T: “The pitch deteriorated as the game went on and by the end resembled a cow field.

“We were three-one up and dictating play but in the second half the pitch became a swamp and you couldn’t do anything positive on it.

“The game became a lottery which seemed to encourage Petersfield and they launched long balls forward and scored twice.

“What was potentially a rotten day started to turn into a nightmare and we nearly blew it. But in the last few minutes we managed to push through the swamp and Filippos hit the winner into the top corner and the whole bench erupted.

“After the game the pitch looked like Matchams. It was unreal, if you were walking your dog you would go somewhere else!”