Ref was right to call Pools match off

When should a game go ahead if the conditions aren’t good? Referee Carl Boyeson decided Hartlepool v Notts County couldn’t be played on Tuesday night, and for the first time in living memory a game at Victoria Park had to be abandoned after starting.

Plenty of Pools games at the Vic have been postponed before the kick-off, but nobody can remember it happened once the game has started.
And while Pools boss Mick Wadsworth claims the match could have been played, many of those who witnessed the incredible monsoon at kick-off time will disagree with him.
He has said that throughout his career he has never known a player injured because of a wet pitch, and while that might be true, there are other considerations to take into account.
People had paid good money to watch a match, but were more likely to have to watch a farce and there are enough plonkers in football bringing the game into disrepute without it doing it for itself by playing in silly conditions.
Wadsworth himself admitted that the quality of the game would have suffered, and in those conditions watching wouldn’t have been comfortable either.
It as the heaviest rain witnessed in the town for a very long time and while it did stop, the pitch drains must have been struggling to cope.
We hate to admit it, but Paul Ince was probably right when he said that while it was disappointing for many fans, it was the right decision.
Mind you, how he can add that his team started quite well and looked strong after less than three minutes of water polo is beyond us.
Now Pools have to put League One concerns aside for a couple of matches as they take on a team of unknowns and a former big club over four days.
First, on Saturday, it’s back to the hopefully dried out Vic for the FA Cup first round game at home to Vauxhall Motors, a virtually unknown quantity from the Wirral.
Pools should be expected to get past them without the slightest problem, but of course the FA Cup is always full of surprises and the last thing Wadsworth wants is to be the victim of one of this season’s.
On Tuesday night Pools go to Sheffield Wednesday for the northern quarter final of the Johnstone’s Paints Trophy, and with a home League One game against runaway leaders Brighton coming up the following Saturday, it’s a busy time for the squad.
And now they’ve go the squeeze a game against Notts County into the fixture list somewhere.