Exeter’s Harrogate trip is off

EXETER City’s match away to Harrogate Town today has been postponed due to a frozen pitch at the EnviroVent Stadium, but the game has been hastily rearranged for Tuesday night with a 6.30pm kick-off.

Due to heavy snow and ice across North Yorkshire this week, the treacherous conditions means the snow-covered surface was deemed unplayable by a local referee who inspected the pitch at 12pm on Friday.

A statement read: “An EFL Referee carried out a pitch inspection at 12pm on Friday 15th January and concluded the pitch would not be playable by 3pm on Saturday 16th.

“The pitch is currently under heavy snow and taking into account the weather forecast over the next 24 hours the EFL official has postponed the fixture.”

Temperatures are not predicted to get much above freezing, so the early decision was made to postpone the fixture.

The postponement means that the Grecians, who already have three games in hand on some teams in League Two, will slip further behind and to have play further catch-up.

Matt Taylor was keen to get the game arranged for Tuesday night because Exeter had so few midweek slots remaining between now and the end of the season. They will now play two games a week right through to mid-March with their next scheduled sevenday break after the clash with Cheltenham Town on Saturday, March 13.

The postponement of today’s clash is the fourth successive away trip to be called off after Stevenage pre-Christmas was postponed due to a Covid-19 outbreak at the Boro, while Newport County (waterlogged pitch) and Barrow (frozen pitch) were called off as well.