CANCELLED football matches at Aston University are likely to be a thing of the past since head groundsman Malcolm Edwards bought an AFT Sandbander for sand-slitting vulnerable areas.

“We had to cancel so many matches in the past because of poor conditions in certain areas of the pitches. We needed to find a solution fast,” explained Malcolm

Aston University’s sports facilities, like many universities around the country, are also available to the local community. This integration brings with it much needed revenue - not least from the university bar.

Every week the busy match schedule of five to six matches on each of six pitches took a heavy toll on the turf.  Areas particularly affected were directly in front of the goal mouths and the six-yard boxes.

“This damage had to be contained and our course of action was to cancel fixtures while maintenance was carried out and the turf allowed time to re-grow,” said Malcolm. “This was time-consuming and had an extremely disruptive effect on match scheduling.”

When Peter Smith from AFT Trenchers put the Sandbander through its paces at Aston, Malcolm was immediately impressed with the results.

“Drainage was instantly improved,” said Malcolm. “You could see the water dissipating immediately. Even in the present dry spell, I need to know that the pitch will cope with a heavy downpour and allow the water to disperse through the soil - rather than lay on the surface. In the longer term I am more interested in ensuring the pitches will cope in wet conditions.”

The AFT Sandbander has revolutionised the way sand-slits are created on sports surfaces. The unique blade design and oscillating movement makes drainage slits with well-consolidated sand. It is often used to successfully divert surface water on the pitches to the existing lateral drains.

The initial areas treated with the AFT Sandbander at Aston University will extend beyond the six-yard areas to cover the whole of the pitch. This will increase the effectiveness of the drainage and massively improve the health and recovery process of the sward.

The AFT Sandbander is suitable for tractors from 25hp. It is fast and easily produces 25 or 35mm sand-slits with a maximum depth of 250mm (10inches) and also works well with lytag and gravel (up to 6mm).

Information on the full range of trenchers from the website: www.trenchers.co.uk

Or contact: Harry jurgens Fax: 01787 310 888. Email: info@trenchers.co.uk