Ref steps in after Swindon downpour

SWINDON Town boss Luke Williams said he had never seen weather like it at a summer football match as their M4 derby with Bristol Rovers was abandoned.

Referee Oliver Langford called a stop to proceedings in the 60th minute after the rain left the County Ground’s pitch waterlogged.

Following a 25-minute delay and a pitch inspection, the match was abandoned.

Williams said: “Both sets of staff and players wanted to keep playing the game, which is completely normal as we don’t always think of the risks, but that is why the referee is there.

“His main concern was we might be making the players vulnerable to injury because of the surface water.

“I don’t remember seeing anything like it in the summer season. It looks like we’ve ruined the planet and have got to stop driving our cars. There will be tarantulas on the pitch soon.”

Rovers boss Darrell Clarke did not speak to the media after the game, only issuing a statement saying: “The referee was concerned for the players’ safety, which is why he called it off.”

Up until the abandonment, the game had been an open affair which Swindon were edging. Jamie Sendles-White’s third minute header hit the post and Anton Rodgers should have scored in the 18th minute only to swing and miss the ball completely, and Luke Norris’s follow-up went over.

Swindon continued applying the pressure, but they could not break the deadlock.

During half-time, the weather became a monsoon and 15 minutes after the interval, Langford brought the players off and not long later, abandoned the match. From what he did see, Williams was pleased with his side.

“Overall I was happy with the team’s performance, but we still need to put the ball in the back of the net,” he said.

Rovers midfielder Ollie Clarke, who had their best chance of the game forcing a save from Lawrence Vigouroux on the half-hour, said it was disappointing to see the game stopped.

“We came out when the referee was rolling the ball around and could see it had no bounce in the pitch,” the 24-year-old said. “You could see it was building up to it with a few challenges going in and the ball stopping which were dangerous.

“Fair play to Swindon, they kept the ball. But we got at them in the second half we would’ve got on top.”