Concerns started arising with a 30 yard section of the pitch at lunchtime today that had failed to beat a sharp overnight frost in Buckinghamshire. Referee Darren Sheldrake then at around 1.45pm, despite the slightly bizarre sight of the groundstaff hosing down the rock hard strip in a belated effort to get the frost out, deciding enough was enough as he called the game off.
stadium:mk being in the same situation as Brunton Park as they have undersoil heating installed but they don't have any boilers to service that heating. The one bright spot for Carlisle in the whole situation being that MK Dons now have to fund the next trip down for United in the rearranged game as far as playing and coaching staff is concerned.
United media officer and first team kitman Andy Hall (AH) commenting to BBC Radio Cumbria's James Phillips (JP) on the late call off :
JP
It's a travesty, you just have to think of the fans on a day like this?
AH
It is absolutely all about the fans, they have travelled down, like you said at 6am, some of them even came last night to make a weekend of it, and to get not even forewarned, to be told when we were told as we had just finished setting up the dressing room that we might want to come out and look at the pitch, it was like 'is this a wind up' because no inclination whatsoever that something might develop.
Obviously, as soon as we walked out onto it the covers were being taken off and the groundstaff here were fairly confident that there wouldn't be anything wrong and that the game would go ahead. So, again we wandered off and then half an hour later Jon Colman came in and said 'do you want to come and have a look again' and you just knew straight away, it was like an ice rink in a 30 yard strip.
JP
Frosty on top but just rock hard underneath?
AH
Rock hard underneath, which is where you are into the safety aspect, but not just that, you are into the farcical aspect of losing a decent run that we are on now to a slip, a slide, a trip, because of ice on the pitch. So, in all honesty it is the right decision that the game isn't on, but you go back to the fans who have travelled down here, to be not forewarned and come all the way, they are here now, it is as simple as that, and now they go home with nothing to show for it.