Saints feel the heat

ST PETER’S pulled out all stops to keep its slim finals hopes alive, hauling a heater over the pitch for more than five hours into the night in a desperate bid to play against Manifold Heights.

Saints skipper Billy Ford said the club had a string of volunteers work around the clock to prepare the wicket last Friday after it copped a midweek drenching.

But it was all in vain as the soft surface ruined any hope of a ball being bowled at Walker Oval on Saturday.

The two-day match will become a one-day game on Saturday, with St Peter’s now needing a miracle to make the finals.

Geelong City is poised to snap up the last place in the top four after posting 303 against Modewarre.

But it was the work of the volunteers behind the scenes that showed the Saints’ desperation to play, with St Peter’s requiring an outright win over the winless Sharks to be any hope of making the semi-final. The most points they can now achieve is six.

“We put a fair bit of work into it because we obviously wanted to get a result,” Ford said.

“We hired a heater from Coates Hire and we had that on the wicket for most of the day and we tried to just let the natural wind dry it out, but it just didn’t dry it out enough or bring out enough moisture.

“The GCA grounds committee ruled that it was still a bit too soft, which was fair enough, because you don’t want any dangerous games being played.

“We did everything we could and we potentially could have got on later in the day, but that was their call and we copped it on the chin.

“We just have to get a win this week and if Modewarre can chase down 300-plus it would be a pretty good effort. It just wasn’t meant to be.”

Ford said the club sourced a portable electric heater on the evening before the match to speed up the drying process.

“Someone at the club works at Coates Hire and he helped us out with that,” he said.

“On Friday night we were moving it (heater) up and down the wicket for a good five hours. We had people constantly up at the rooms and people coming up to the club from other clubs looking at what we were doing. It was quite funny at the time.

“It did a fair bit, but it was just not enough.”

After a drenching on Wednesday and Thursday, Ford said the pitch was near unplayable.

“It hit it pretty bad,” he said. “It was under water on Thursday night, but once we got the surface water off it dried out really quickly.

“But it was still a bit soft underneath. You could play on worse, but we just have to respect the decision of the grounds committee and that’s what we did and we move on.

“It’s just one of those things, you can’t help the weather.”

Sitting outside the top four by three points, the Saints need a miracle to keep their season alive on the final day of the home-and-away season.