A spot of bother

Referee in discussion with players

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PAUL Dickov felt that last night’s abandoned derby clash should have been postponed before kick-off.

Only eight minutes were on the clock at a sodden Spotland before referee Tony Bates informed Dickov and his opposite number Keith Hill that he was calling off the first Rochdale-Athletic league derby in 36 years due to safety reasons.

Bates had already brought the two captains together for discussions as the fixture threatened to turn into a farce.

At one point, Dean Furman’s firmly-struck back pass barely got halfway to goalkeeper Dean Brill before being brought to a halt by standing water.

incident

And a similar incident at the other end seemed to persuade Bates that the match should not continue. No new date has yet been set for the rearranged fixture.

“There was the forecast for more rain and it was the right decision,” said Dickov, who now refocuses his side on Saturday’s FA Cup first round tie away at Accrington Stanley.

“Everybody could see the ball was holding up.

“If it had been called off two hours earlier it would have saved the fans a lot of bother in coming to the ground and getting soaked through.

“We knew it was going to happen at 6pm.

“The most disappointing thing for us is that the pitch didn’t change from when we got there at that time.

“Our goalkeeper warmed up in that area (of the Furman back pass) and the ball wasn’t moving.

“We were trying to pass it five yards to each other and it wasn’t happening, so as soon as Dean went to play it we knew what was going to happen.

“The referee said ‘I am going to have to call it, as it is a farce’.

“We said ‘we know that, as it was like that already’.

“It was a bit of a let-down really. We all wanted to play after the big build-up to it.

“But you have to deal with what’s been put in front of you. It has been called off and we move on now.”

Athletic midfielder Dale Stephens agreed with the general consensus that it would have been foolhardy to play the game out.

“It hadn’t stopped raining all day and it was going to be a game full of mistakes,” Stephens said.

“I think the best thing was to call it off.’

Athletic started the ill-fated game making one change to the starting line-up which saw off Plymouth 4-2 at the weekend.

Lewis Alessandra dropped to the substitutes’ bench and Paul Black started at left-back after shaking off a hamstring strain, with Cedric Evina moving up to the left wing.

Dean Kelly, who scored the fourth against Plymouth, missed out after picking up a groin strain and was described by Dickov as being “touch-and-go” to make the trip to Accrington.

Athletic have slipped to 11th in npower League One as a result of last night’s other games.