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Chasing first place in the Ontario Football Conference these days is a lot more straightforward than finding an adequate practice facility.
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The nomadic London Beefeaters have dealt with electrical theft, lightning storms and COVID restrictions en route to their top-spot showdown with the St. Clair Fratmen at 3 p.m. Saturday at City Wide Sports Park.
Take last week’s win over the GTA Grizzlies: kickoff was bumped up two hours at City Wide after thieves made off with copper wire needed to light their home field. The Beefs moved around to three practice fields in a week-and-a-half and had three straight Tuesday night sessions cancelled by threatening weather.
“We’ve been working out in St. Thomas at 1Password Park, which is a beautiful facility,” head coach Gavin Lake said. “We tried a (North London) soccer field on Adelaide and couldn’t go there because of rain and mud. We can’t use Western because, as a community team, we’re not part of the university’s COVID regulations.
“We’re driving all over God’s green earth and we’ve got excellent buy-in. They love the game, love their brothers, want to compete and get better.”
London’s only loss in its first four games was a 29-22 classic decided in the final minute Sept. 11 at the Fratmen’s new Acumen Stadium home. The Beefs hung in there on a short week with limited practice in front of a large, partisan crowd.
“We look at this as Round 2 of three this year (with the finale in the playoffs),” Lake said. “This is the most critical game at this juncture. It’s a marquee matchup, our equivalent to Western-Guelph or Western-McMaster.
“No one’s going to need the smelling salts to get up for this one.”
Well-travelled London Beefeaters ready for first-place battle - Woodstock Sentinel Review
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