RUSTHALL’S home game with Cray Valley PM had to be called off due to a waterlogged pitch last weekend.
The abandonment was the second in a row at Jockey Farm Stadium.
It allowed local rivals Tunbridge Wells to sneak ahead of Rusthall in the Southern Counties East League Premier Division.
The proximity of the neighbours in the table sets up Saturday’s local derby at the Culverden Stadium as a massive encounter.
Tunbridge Wells beat Deal 4-3 at home on Saturday to climb into 17th place, two points ahead of the Rustics in 18th spot.
Rusthall will be looking to end a poor run of results and increase the gap between them and the bottom two, Rochester United – who are 12 points behind – and rock bottom Hollands & Blair in order to stave off the spectre of relegation.
The Rustics had suffered a run of four defeats before the weather intervened.
The waterlogging is a problem that the club hope will be cured when the second stage of drainage work is done in May.
When the pitch was levelled last summer the main drain was installed but the sand slitting that feeds it was delayed.
If both jobs had been done at the same time the pitch would have been out of use for this season, which the club did not want having achieved promotion last season.
