Rain and hail force local footy match to be delayed, leaving ground covered in ice

A 15-MINUTE burst of hail and torrential rain sent reserves footballers at Silvan scrambling for the changerooms on Saturday.

A 15-MINUTE burst of hail and torrential rain sent reserves footballers at Silvan scrambling for the changerooms on Saturday.

Dark clouds descended on Silvan Reserve during the last quarter of the club’s Eastern Football League reserves match against Glen Waverley Hawks.

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Hail fell for about 10 minutes, covering the ground in a blanket of white before players re-entered the field to finish the match.

“We got up there and I left my jacket in the car. It was fine,” Glen Waverley coach Ryan Flack said.

“The clouds just turned black really quickly in the last quarter of the reserves and the hail came.

“Our guys were already warming up down on the tennis courts there at Silvan and they all came running back in.

“The reserves game persisted for a little bit and then it just got heavier and heavier. There was lightning and all sorts of stuff.”

Hail covers Silvan football ground after a storm. Picture: Supplied.

Temperatures were six degrees or lower for most of Saturday at Silvan, which is about 50km east of Melbourne.

“It was pretty full on. I’d never seen anything like it,” Silvan’s Chris Maclagan said.

“It just smashed down for about 10-15 minutes and then it stopped and the sun came out.”

Maclagan said the reserves game was “finished off on the hail basically.”

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He said if the hail had persisted, the senior match could have been called off due to safety concerns.

“They were saying … if it kept going we might have to cancel it. But it didn’t come back again like that,” he said.

Within about 15 minutes, the sun returned and the senior match was played without any issues.

After the rain and hail cleared for Silvan's EFL clash with Glen Waverley Hawks.

“Little bit snowy, a little bit of hail. Different to what we are used to playing footy in,” Silvan coach Trent Martin said.

“Being Victorian footy and country footy, we expect everything up there.”

Both teams kicked 13 goals, suggesting the weather had little impact on the result.

Silvan almost caused a boilover against the Hawks in the last round of the home-and-away season, but Glen Waverley held on for a 13.12 (90) to 13.11 (89) victory.

“Very, very rare that we get something like that,” Maclagan said.

A severe weather warning is in place for Sunday, with wild winds, thunderstorms and hail forecast to hit the city.