Latics hoping to beat new freeze

NO GO: Hartlepool United manager Chris Turner and match referee Carl Boyeson on the frozen pitch at Victoria Park.

A SWIFT rearrangement means Athletic will try again to beat the weather this weekend.

The recent icy conditions saw the home Boxing Day clash with Tranmere Rovers and the away game at Hartlepool yesterday fall prey to the elements, leaving Dave Penney’s men without a festive fixture in Coca-Cola League One.

With the third round of the FA Cup taking place this coming weekend, Athletic’s scheduled game away at Swinton on Saturday had already been switched to a midweek date in February as a result of the Robins’ continued involvement in the competition.

That left Athletic with the prospect of no competitive match until the visit of Leyton Orient to Boundary Park on Saturday, January 9 — a full three weeks since the team last turned out, for the 2-2 draw away at Wycombe.

However, with neither side involved in the FA Cup, officials at Hartlepool and Athletic took advantage of a blank weekend to quickly fix up a new date of Saturday, January 2 (3pm kick-off). All existing tickets are valid.

The game at Victoria Park was postponed at 10am yesterday following a pitch inspection, with the playing surface still frozen solid with ice.

The forecast for the north-east during the rest of the week is for a slight rise in temperature with light rain and sunny intervals, though there could be more snowfall on Friday.

No new date has yet been set for Athletic’s home game against Tranmere.

Penney will have to make a decision on whether to retain the services of Paul Heffernan for another month, with the Doncaster striker’s loan spell having now expired.

Heffernan has one goal to his name in four appearances for Athletic.

The second month of goalkeeper Darryl Flahavan’s loan from Crystal Palace runs out after the Hartlepool game.

Pawel Abbott and Chris Taylor should now be fit to return to the first-team mix, though centre-back Reuben Hazell has still to serve his one-match suspension for picking up five yellow cards.