FARCICAL CALL OFF ENDS RADFORD V PRIMS MATCH

RADFORD 1 GRAHAM ST PRIMS 1 [ABANDONED 40 MINUTES]
EMCL @ ON CALL ARENA
17 MARCH 2018 --- 3PM

NICE DAY FOR A GAME OF FOOTY

A frustrating afternoon for players, club officials and of course last of all the fans saw this game called off by the referee with bright sunshine and blue sky dominating a pitch that had all its lines cleared following a four minute heavy snow shower.
Managers of all sports teams often hate the requirement of doing interviews or giving the thoughts immediately after a game because they may say to much in the 'heat of the moment'.  Thankfully the blog is not on the same level but has deliberately taken 24 hours to hopefully tone down the rant about todays proceedings.

A CALMING VIEW OF SHIPSTONE BREWERY AS THE RANT TAKES PLACE

Firstly let me qualify any comments by saying I'm the first to see the difficulty referees have hassle from all sides and they can never suit all etc, etc, blah, blah, blah.  However seriously some areas of the game need a strong look at them with a fine tooth comb supporters are increasingly disappearing not just to the bottom of the pile but beyond those depths.  Todays forecast had given us heavy snow showers for short periods followed by bright sunshine and blue sky, indeed walking to the ground from Bobbers Mill at 1.15pm we experienced one of these but by the time we called in at the club house the small amount of snow that had settled had all but vanished.
The encounter kicked off in a snow flurry which proceeded to abate and then on forty minutes with the scores at 1-1 referee Mallows called for a yellow ball something that sadly Radford did not have to immediate hand.  At this stage probably correctly as you will see from the picture the players were brought off the pitch and it appeared an agreement was taken to play 40 minutes each way, a game of two equal halves, with a half time break underway straight away.

THE CULPRIT

More or less as soon as the players were shut away in their changing rooms the weather changed and a small band of officials and spectators set about clearing the lines while Radford readied the yellow ball.  You will see from the main picture that the weather had returned to 'norm' and with the blue sky and sunshine in the ascendancy we hoped for a prompt re-start.
Sadly referee Mallows had other ideas and unbelievably he came as far as the end of the tunnel not even crossing onto the pitch and declared he 'was not happy with it'.  I guess as ever the attendance of an assessor was having a big influence on any decisions the referee made.  A group of players from both sides pleaded with him to come out and take a look at the directional area of the weather and that they were happy to try to get this game completed, but of course to no avail.  The even more galling fact was that all the non league games in the Nottingham area that started finished in what looked like the same conditions at Basford, Dunkirk, Attenborough, Calverton and Kimberly.  Indeed games at Matlock and Glossop in the Peak District had delays to clear their lines in what looked like far worse conditions and saw the games through.  The frustration here can be added to by taking a look at Atherstone's twitter feed for their game versus Heath Hayes which left supporters and officials in the same bewildered state and the video of the abandonment.  
In the opinion of the referee of course is the edict but sometimes I'm not sure whether these guys are fans of the game or realise the work and expense that the clubs go through but of course that really doesn't affect most of them because they'll be back for the next one in mid may when nobody else turns up but a bit more expense will drain out of a clubs account.

OH YES THE MATCH

In fairness to Mr Mallows this was the first time I had witnessed a game abandoned in 40 years of watching the 'beautiful game' so I suppose I should be grateful, but I wasn't.
For the record it was 1-1 at 40 minutes with Radford taking the lead on 13 minutes through Ravarne Jackson before nine minutes later Josh Wright Levelled when he turned in a corner off the right hand side.
Pre match had gone well with ample servings at the quality Bobbers Mill Macs with all journeys being successfully completed the only thing we missed was a full game of football.
Older players and fans are laughing at the game today as fixtures pile up we are calling off some and I have to make that clear, some, games far too easily when in the past these matches would have been played.  Todays pitch was perfectly playable and to add insult to injury no more snow arrived until around 4.40 just enough time for us to have completed the second half, anyone for a bit of rugby league?