Taunton, Truro and a very wet pitch

The National League must surely be casting an increasingly worried eye over the deepening quagmire that seems to be the South Division ground-share deal between Taunton Town and Truro City.

The mid-season arrangement always looked risky, given the vulnerability of Taunton’s Wordsworth Drive pitch.

But in the wake of the latest ‘waterlogged’ postponement, which saw Town against local rivals Weston-super-Mare called off this Tuesday, the situation is perilously close to unworkable.

It was Town’s fourth successive home postponement.

It means that, as things stand, the ground is supposed to stage 20 Taunton and Truro matches in 49 days before the final Saturday of the season (Apr 20).

You do the maths.

Ironically, that highly improbable schedule is due to start with Truro-v-Taunton this Saturday.

At one point Truro are due to play ‘home’ games there on March 29, April 6, 11, 13 and 16, with Taunton also due to entertain Bath City on April 1 – that’s six matches in 19 days!

Even if they get played, what are the underfoot conditions going to be like?

Torquay United have a strong interest in the mess.

Their original game at Taunton has already been postponed three times.

As things stand, the Gulls are due to play Truro, who started the season ground-sharing at Plymouth Parkway’s Bolitho Park stadium, at Wordsworth Drive on April 9.

Their outstanding game at Taunton, for which they’ve reportedly sold out 800 tickets, should be rearranged any day, but it will have to be squeezed in.

It wasn’t that long ago, of course, that Truro persuaded Torquay to accommodate them in another ground-share deal, during the 2018-2019 season.

The Plainmoor pitch took an almighty battering then. It just about survived, but had to undergo an expensive overhaul that summer.

One thing’s for sure – even a short, sharp shower over Taunton at the moment is seriously bad news...