By DAVID NAGEL
THERE’s no need to panic!
That’s the message from ROC Football Club president Barry O’Loughlin after 40-50mm of rain flooded Starling Road on Thursday afternoon ahead of Sunday’s SEFNL elimination final between Beaconsfield and Doveton.
The venue for this year’s grand final on Saturday 19 September was flooded in the forward pocket at the Princes Highway end of the ground after a pipe blockage in that vicinity.
Starling Road ground staff fixed the pipe late Thursday and by Friday morning the ground was still damp but fit for play.
O’Loughlin said the heavy rainfall was obviously not ideal but the club was working hard to have things in good shape by Sunday.
“There’s definitely no need to panic,” O’Loughlin said.
“It just didn’t stop raining yesterday (Thursday). I was a bit concerned when I saw all that water, but we worked out the problem and we’ve done the best we could under the circumstances. The weather conditions are out of our control but I can assure everyone involved in the league that we will be doing everything possible to have the ground in tip-top shape by Sunday.”
