THIS EVENING’S SSE Airtricity League of Ireland Premier Division game between Sligo Rovers and Finn Harps was abandoned after 21 minutes at The Showgrounds.
Incessant rainfall, from around an hour-and-a-half before kick-off, resulted in the Showgrounds pitch being covered in puddles of water.
With the ball sticking in the water, the referee, Ray Matthews, took the players off the pitch, which by that stage was deemed to have been unplayable.
The officials took the decision ‘in the interests of players’ safety’ and the game will be rescheduled for a later date.
Picture caption: Barry Molloy in action for Finn Harps against Sligo Rovers. Picture by Gary Foy, newsandsportfiles
“We aren’t complaining about the decision,” Harps manager Ollie Horgan said.
“We felt, maybe, that he could have given it another 20 minutes although the ball was getting stuck with short passes.
“It gives us a number of problems with fixtures now in terms of when it’ll be rescheduled.”
The Sligo manager, Dave Robertson agreed with the decision to call a halt.
“We had the pitch verti-drained yesterday and it just hasn’t been able to drain,” Robertson said.
“The game just became dangerous. To be fair to the referee and the match delegate, they made the decision in the interests of players’ safety and I have to support him.
[adrotate group=”37″]“There are some things that are out of our control and this is the right decision
It is the second time this season that a game between the two at The Showgrounds had to be abandoned.
The first meeting of the teams in March was called off after 86 minutes because of floodlight failure, League officials ruling that the 1-1 score at the time of the abandonment could stand.
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