HELLENIC LEAGUE: Turner to give Bassett players night off (From Swindon Advertiser)

HELLENIC LEAGUE: Turner to give Bassett players night off

6:00am Monday 6th February 2012 in Football By Ned Payne

WOOTTON Bassett's players got Saturday off due to the cold weather, and now boss Dave Turner has given them the all-clear to skip training tomorrow as well.

Frost caused all Hellenic League games to be postponed at the weekend and Bassett's home clash with local rivals Malmesbury was no exception.

The Rylands Way outfit would normally train on a Tuesday evening but with Swindon playing Barnet in the Southern Area final of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy, Turner has decided to give his players the opportunity to watch from the stands at the County Ground.

“I'm giving them Tuesday off because we're going to struggle for the top three (in Division One West) now,” said Turner.

“Most of them want to see Swindon play and I might even have a little look myself to be honest.

“We don't pay them and they have got a great attitude, so we've told them to go and watch the football and enjoy it.”

Vics manager Simon Winstone was disappointed that his side did not have the chance to continue their recent good form.

He said: “We've been on a run and you want to keep it going, especially when it's a local derby.

“Bassett want to get revenge but we also wanted to win it and do the double over a good side.”

Elsewhere in Division One West, New College's trip to Cirencester Dev was also called off due to the freezing conditions.

New College first-team coach Rob Hopkins said: “We've had the lads in four times for training this week, so they were free to enjoy the Six Nations as I did.”

Cricklade and Purton's second-round Supplementary Cup clash, which was previously abandoned following a head injury to Ed Jose, was also called off.

Purton boss Chris Pethick is now hoping to arrange a friendly with another local side as his team have had little football recently.

He said: “It's always disappointing to miss a game on a Saturday afternoon, especially when we never had a game last week.

“It's quite a big break to be honest with you, with our next game being next Saturday.”

It is a different story at Cricklade, where chairman Alisdair Ross is hoping a break from action will help the squad recover from a spate of injuries.

“I thought all week that the game would be off,” he said.

“We've got a few carrying injuries so it should do them good to have a rest.”

Both last-16 Challenge Cup games involving our local sides were postponed, those being Fairford's meeting with Binfield and Highworth's clash with Ardley.

Highworth boss Dave Webb said: “To be fair to the Hellenic League they made a decision on Friday to call all the games off, so at least they made a decision early.

“You just knew it was never going to be on - when I went to work yesterday the temperature was minus eight.”

Shrivenham had no game scheduled so were unaffected by the fixture postponements this weekend.