Law so frustrated as Poppies are left in the dark

Marcus Law struggled to hide his frustration after Kettering Town were denied a potential opportunity to upset Evo-Stik Southern League Premier Division leaders Leamington last night (Tuesday).
Leamington's home ground was plunged into darkness following a power failure, much to the frustration of Kettering Town who were leading 1-0 when the match was abandoned. Picture by Peter ShortLeamington's home ground was plunged into darkness following a power failure, much to the frustration of Kettering Town who were leading 1-0 when the match was abandoned. Picture by Peter Short
Leamington's home ground was plunged into darkness following a power failure, much to the frustration of Kettering Town who were leading 1-0 when the match was abandoned. Picture by Peter Short

The Poppies turned in an impressive display and led thanks to a Nathan Hicks penalty when a power outage at the Phillips 66 Community Stadium caused three floodlights to fail shortly before half-time.

After a 40-minute delay, the match was eventually abandoned – the second time it has happened at Leamington this season with the first being when they were also losing to Chesham United.

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The abandonment sparked scenes of frustration for the Poppies players and fans alike.

Law was delighted by the way his players went about their business for the 42 minutes that were played.

And while he understood that there was little anyone could have done, it didn’t take away from his disappointment of an opportunity being taken away from his team.

“It is an uncontrollable,” the Poppies boss said.

“There was nothing we could do and it was similar to what happened to us at Redditch last season.

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“It’s frustrating for us and it is frustrating for the fans because we had Leamington baffled and we can take confidence in that we were on top of the game.

“As much as you try to do the right things, there are some things you can’t control and this was one of those situations.

“We were biting at the bit to get back out there and it was terribly frustrating to not get that opportunity.

“The people at Leamington were telling me it has happened twice before and the times it took to fix it were one-and-a-half hours and four hours.

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“I think we waiting around 40 minutes before a decision was made and, although the lights did come back on, they were still working to secure them at 10.30pm so there was no way we were going to get back out there.”

A statement from Western Power on the situation said: “The fuses that cut out yesterday and before Christmas are an internal fault at the football club (not on WPD’s network) due to too much load.

“WPD restored the power and are now liaising with the club re advice on upgrading their fuses.”

The abandonment summed up a frustrating few days for the Poppies after their clash at Dunstable Town last weekend was postponed due to a frozen pitch.

They are back in action on Saturday when they host fourth-placed Merthyr Town at Latimer Park.

Don’t miss more Poppies news in Thursday’s Northamptonshire Telegraph

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