Axminster Town beat the rain – again – to stage football on another soggy Saturday

For the second week running Axminster Town have managed to do what almost every other South West Peninsula League (SWPL) club has failed to do and that is to stage a game.

The Tigers home meeting with Bovey Tracey is one of just three games left one out of the 24 that were scheduled to be played across the Premier, Eastern and Western Divisions on the final Saturday of January.

With just three games played last week and only a handful over the rest of the month, January has proved to be a bleak time for local footballers.

However, Tigers groundsman Jamie Barfoot has once again worked his magic and so Tiger Way stages action and the game with Bovey Tracey kicks off at 3pm.

As at noon just a dozen matches out of the 61 league and cup ties in the Macron League and cup games were still on.

Spare a thought for the players of Honiton Town Reserves who suffered their fourth postponement in five match days when their Division Two meeting with Woodbury at Mountbatten Park was postponed.

The Hippos second string still have 18 matches to play in their league campaign and they last played on Saturday November 18, and that was only their second game of November! They are next in action on Saturday, February 3, and so, if that game goes ahead it will be the first time the Town second string have taken to a pitch to play for an incredible 11 weeks – longer than a normal close season period!

Its almost as grim for the Hippos third team, who still have 19 league games to play in their Division Eight campaign and, given that there are juts 14 Saturday’s from the first Saturday of February through to, and including, the first Saturday in May, there’s going to be plenty of midweek action for Hippos players over the final third of the 2017/18 season.