NIFL announce that abandoned matches will be replayed in full

ALL three of Tuesday night’s abandoned Danske Bank Premiership matches will be replayed in full, according to the Northern Ireland Football League (NIFL).

The three ties were all called off due to the effects of Storm Eleanor as gale force winds of 90mph and driving rain battered the province, causing havoc.

Games at The Oval, where Glentoran hosted Warrenpoint Town, and at Solitude, between Cliftonville and Ballymena United, made it to half-time before being called off, while the meeting of Ards and Glenavon at the Bangor Fuels Arena was also stopped after six minutes of the second half.

The former two matches had been played to draws at the time of abandonment, 0-0 at The Oval and 1-1 at Solitude, while Glenavon led 2-0 in the third clash.

The Premiership Management Committee convened yesterday to determine the outcome of the games, with other options including restarting the games from where they left off or letting the results stand as they were.

However, the Committee determined that the games should be replayed in full, with the dates of those re-arranged games still to be determined.

It puts further pressure on an already packed schedule that has had to deal with four other postponed fixtures in December due to heavy snow.

NIFL chairman Andrew Johnston has already admitted that an earlier start to next season is likely to avoid this kind of fixture congestion in the future.