'Frustration' at Mosset Park pitch issues caused by winter training sessions
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HAVING so many home matches called off due to Mosset Park being unplayable has been 'frustrating', Forres Mechanics manager Steven MacDonald admitted.
For the second Saturday in succession, Forres had a home match postponed on the morning of the game after a failed pitch inspection.
A match against Wick Academy was the first to fall to the weather, before Formartine's visit was called off due to a waterlogged park.
MacDonald said issues have arisen after the squad trained on the park in winter. This was due to the unavailability of the Kinloss astroturf, where the floodlights were out of commission.
"It is frustrating for everyone," he said. "You want to be playing games on a Saturday.
"Through circumstances outwith our control we had to train on Mosset Park during the winter, which really ruined it this year.
"Steven (Simpson, groundsman) does a great job so we have let him down a bit, but it was a last resort.
"It has been an unusually wet winter, so it’s not unique to us, but if you compare the pitch to last year it handled the weather a lot better then.
"It highlights how disappointing it is that Forres doesn't have an all-weather pitch. In this day and age, we should have that."
Forres are far from the worst placed team in the Highland League with regard to their home pitch – with both Buckie Thistle and Brora Rangers having had to move games elsewhere.
The floodlights at the astroturf in Kinloss are now back in operation, so Forres have continued training away from Mosset Park.
The Can-Cans trained on Saturday in the absence of a game and will travel to Kynoch Park to take on Keith in a Moray derby on Wednesday.
