Groundsman digging for Victory

Groundsman Colin James hopes severe waterlogging at Brisbane Road is a thing of the past.

He described the damage done by standing water on the pitch last Christmas as 'heartbreaking'.

The duties of the job are taken very seriously by groundsmen like Colin, so he was mortified when disaster struck at Orient.

The bad weather and crumbling drains turned the turf into mud, and Colin had to cope with the scars.

Sections of the pitch were damaged as well.

"You take time to prepare the pitch and get it right, but the water comes in and you cannot do much about it," Colin said.

"The drainage was 20 years old so we had a lot of problems and a very bad winter last year.

"The west side and south stand suffered a lot because water was not draining away, as the drains had collapsed.

"It was heartbreaking to see."

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