Langney hit back in Heath postponement saga

Langney Wanderers assistant manager Paul Turner has leapt to his club's defence after the postponement of their game against Haywards Heath Town last night.
Action from Haywards Heath Town (blue) v Langney Wanderers earlier in the season. Pic Steve Robards SR1521790 SUS-150914-105232001Action from Haywards Heath Town (blue) v Langney Wanderers earlier in the season. Pic Steve Robards SR1521790 SUS-150914-105232001
Action from Haywards Heath Town (blue) v Langney Wanderers earlier in the season. Pic Steve Robards SR1521790 SUS-150914-105232001

The East Sussex side were set to host the Division 2 clash at Eastbourne United’s ground, the Oval, due to flooding on their own pitch at Shinewater Rec.

But despite the efforts to switch the match, it was called off yesterday afternoon for a waterlogged pitch.

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Heath manager Shaun Saunders said yesterday he was so shocked to receive a call from the Langney secretary - Tracey Saunders - that he thought it was a prank call.

But this afternoon Turner contacted the Mid Sussex Times on behalf of Wanderers to hit back at those comments and others on social media that he felt suggested they had a depleted squad.

Turner revealed that calling off the match had left them out of pocket for officials and was frustrated after they had gone the extra mile to get the game played at Eastbourne.

He said: “From our point of view, Langney Wanderers are a bit disappointed with all the comments.

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“It’s been suggested that the game was called off for other reasons. It was not that we did not want to play, we did not have a squad or did not want to play Haywards Heath.

“I am disappointed with the Haywards Heath’s manager’s comments and from some of the players since on Twitter. They should know better.

“Games being off can ruin our chances as we will now have to play four games a week and we won’t be playing at home for a few weeks as our pitch won’t be drying out.

“We will be playing elsewhere so there are financial costs as well, so we are making every effort to get the games on. Because of that, it’s not fair for Haywards Heath to make those kind of comments.

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“We called it off early as well as they wanted to know by 3pm. We did that to make it a bit easier for them so there players would have to travel or leave work earlier, so it’s not nice to get those comments back.”

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