General
- Thursday June 10th, 2010 @ 16:37
GROUND IMPROVEMENT WORK BEGINS AT RICHMOND PARK
While the Airtricity League takes a well deserved break there is no let up for the ground staff at Richmond Park as they begin a two week period of ground improvement work.
To remove some of the compression in the ground and to put a bit more bounce back into the turf the pitch is completely vertically drained.
Over 60 tonnes of sand will then be spread across the pitch to improve drainage and to improve the all-round level of the surface.
The pitch will then have a 1/4 of an inch layer of sand which will also prevent moss growth.
Up to 100 kilograms of grass seed will then be added and this will then be fertilised.
“One of the downsides of Summer football”, explained St Pat's head groundsman, Anto Magurie, “is that there is simply no growth in the off-season from November to February so any serious damage done to a pitch is almost impossible to repair during the winter months”.
“Getting a pitch ready for a season of football in February is definitely a lot harder than say in August but that's the challenge we face and we need to make full use out of the mid-season break”, he added.