Biggar and Peebles derby called off

Dec 24 2009 by George Topp, Lanark & Carluke

THE decision to postpone Saturday's local derby between Biggar RFC and Peebles was not taken quickly.

A handful of Biggar committee members, plus coach Ants Posa and captain Sam Muir, pondered the possibilities of declaring the game on or off.

Ex-ref Jim Yuille was called down to give his opinion and he, too, found it not an easy one to make.

The problem surrounded clearing the pitch of the snow that had protected much of the pitch from the heavy frost of the previous two nights.

There was too much snow to allow the game to go ahead as it was, but clearing the snow would expose the pitch to the freezing temperatures which would render the ground unplayable.

Postponement was the only decision and so the message was relayed to Peebles.

At 2pm it looked as though the decision might have been the wrong one, however, as the temperature had risen slightly in the morning and removed a lot of the snow.

Indeed, there was a training session in full swing at 2.30pm.

Things were markedly different at 3pm when a blizzard swept across the Hartreemill ground, reducing visibility to barely the width of the pitch and seeing training – as would have been the case had the game gone on – abandoned.

Match sponsor Lance Armstrong held his luncheon and his guests took in the training session. The club thank Lance for his continued support, despite the loss of the main feature. The club now have a few weeks off as there are no fixtures planned over the festive period.

The revised date for the Peebles game has not yet been decided, and with the Kelso game due to be played in February, the season has now been prolonged slightly.

Training will continue throughout the holiday period with the next scheduled league game on January 9, an away fixture against Haddington.

The next home game is against Stirling County the following week, January 16.

The results of the winter draw raffle will be published next week.