United had already travelled down but Collins felt their journey was wasted, claiming the pitch at the Kassam Stadium was never going to be playable because of patches of frost on uncovered areas. "It appeared to me they never wanted the game to go ahead because they only covered half of the areas that were affected by the frost," said an unhappy Collins. "It was not playable and it was never going to be playable. We could have been told the night before." However Atkins was of a different opinion altogether. He believed the pitch was perfectly playable and said the referee had made a premature decision when the surface was still thawing out. "It should have gone ahead," said the ex-United boss. "I feel for all the Carlisle supporters who have travelled down. It is a very long way to come and the referee should have waited until nearer kick-off to make his decision. By 2 o'clock the pitch was perfectly playable." A group of United fans from the London Branch had played in a supporters match against their Oxford counterparts just a few miles from the ground and reported the ground was thawing all the way through and would have been fine for a 3 o'clock start. Now the game will have to be re-arranged which will prove difficult as United now have two midweek dates tied up with the Northern Final of the LDV Vans Trophy against Shrewsbury and the possibility of another re-arrangement if they get to the Final which is on April 6. The Cumbrians are confident the first leg of the area final will go ahead tomorrow night, which will help to avert further fixture chaos. The temperature in Carlisle has dropped below freezing for the past few nights but daytime sunshine has proved strong enough to thaw the pitch. United have covered the pitch again as a precaution and will leave the covers off during the day to let the sun get on to it. They also have heaters ready to work on the goalmouths. The Warwick Road End of the pitch has proved to be the biggest problem in the past because it gets lets of the sun. The Shrews were also inactive at the weekend when their home game with Macclesfield was called off. Like United, they slid two places down the table. Picture from News & Star |
