Craig Elliott believed the decision to call off Shaw Lane Aquaforce’s home game with Bridlington could have been delayed
Craig Elliott believed referee David Benton could have delayed his decision to postpone Shaw Lane Aquaforce’s Toolstation NCEL Premier Division clash with Bridlington Town.
The match was called off because Mr Benton deemed the surface dangerous because of standing water on parts of the pitch.
Mr Benton waited until minutes after the arrival of Gary Allanson and his team just after half past one to wave his red flag.
Volunteers had spent hours clearing water from the pitch, but Mr Benton’s appearance in wellington boots at 1pm did not bode any confidence that the fixture would take place.
Elliott told Non League Yorkshire: “It massively disappointing because you don’t want to get behind with your games.
“I don’t know whether it was the correct decision. Looking at it now, I think it could have been played.
“You don’t know what the weather is going to do, but with them travelling so far, he could have given it another 30 minutes. That’s all I was asking.
“I tried to get him to wait because they had travelled so far and everyone was here.
“He could have waited another half hour before looking at it again to see if we could work on it any further.
“He said it was dangerous because of the standing water, but the ball was rolling.”
Bridlington manager Allanson did not have any arguments with Mr Benton.
He said: “It is really disappointing because you are all keyed up for the game.
“We had a good win last week and we had players coming back injury.
“The most disappointing thing is that they had an inspection at ten o’clock and they knew we had far to travel.
“You can’t compensate for the weather so you have to take it on the chin and move on.
“There’s standing water on the pitch and the forecast for half past two is meant to be heavy rain for the rest of the afternoon so the referee has to put the players’ safety first.”
The match was one of eight NCEL matches postponed because of the heavy rain.