Saturday 2nd December 2023

Pitching In Southern League Premier Division South

Dorchester 1 Beaconsfield Town 1 - Match abandoned

Avenue Stadium
Ram of The Match - Ben Van Aurich

Match abandoned as freezing fog rolls in to frustrate Rams and Magpies.

Beaconsfield Town now face a midweek trip to replay this fixture at Dorchester Town after the weather intervened to prevent the completion of this first attempt.

The mist was already settling in when The Rams arrived at the Avenue Stadium and the forecast seemed to make this outcome a fairly safe bet, referee Mr Barber was duty bound to try and ensure the fixture was fulfilled but as the temperature dropped and darkness fell the airbourne fog was joined by the ground level moisture condensing and reduced visibility even further.

After representations from both captains and a touchline conference between the referee and both benches the game was abandoned after 66 minutes.

 

At that point the game was poised at 1-1. Dan Bradshaw giving the Rams the lead with a low shot from the edge of the box which nicked off a defender and flew past former Ram Adam Forster in the home goal.The Ram's advantage lasted less than a minute as Olaf Koszela evened the score with a sweet strike from distance.

At least that's what I’m told happened, by this stage it was impossible to see the end of the ground The Rams were defending through the gathering gloom.

With both teams deploying direct tactics it was even somewhat tricky to deduce where the ball was going to appear from the mists.

With the game poised the abandonment didn't unduly penalise anyone. Although, The Rams will now have to add the not-inconsiderable costs of another coach trip to the budget.

Assuming the fog clears, The Rams head to Basingstoke Town next Saturday

#COYR.

Images ©Neale Blackburn Photography 2023