Harvey blasts late call off
Glencairn gaffer Willie Harvey slammed Saturday’s referee for costing the club over £400 after he called their match with Irvine Meadow off. Daniel McFarlane took the decision to postpone the game at the Celsius Stadium due to one bad area of the park.
The official, who walked the pitch in his ‘flat soled smart shoes’, bounced the ball in several areas of the turf.
But once he found a small patch of grass that the ball didn’t bounce off, he immediately called the game off.
The postponement, according to boss Harvey, has cost the club an estimated £400 as they now have to pay for the catering and Meadow bus which made the trip on the word the park was playable.
Harvey blasted: “The club are absolutely raging.
“It 100 per cent should have went ahead. There was no reason why that park should not have been able to sustain a game of football.
“The pitch was perfect. There was one area which had some water on it, we offered to work on it, put some sand on it, but the referee still said no. He said it wouldn’t make a difference. We could have easily forked it out.
“He even walked across the park in his soft soled shoes. If you were going to call a game off then why would you wear your smart shoes on the park?
“It’s now costing us £400 for the day. The bus will cost £250-300, then you’ve got all the pies, the sandwiches and soup and hospitality that were in place. It all has to be thrown out.
“Why would we pay £25 for a pitch inspection when we were 100 per cent sure it could have gone ahead?
“I feel for the people who turned up early to prepare the catering, the grounds staff and also the supporters.”