Town’s Worthington Cup fourth round tie came to a premature end when referee Graham Poll took the players off to allow the pitch time to improve after heavy rain. A few minutes later an announcement over the tannoy told fans that the game had in fact been abandoned.

Although it had seemed quite wet when we arrived in Manchester, and we had been followed by rain the whole way there, an abandoned match was far from in our minds as we nipped for a few pre-match jars.

When we left the pub with half an hour to kick off to make the ten minute walk to the Maine Road we were caught in an horrendous downpour. By the time we had entered the ground we were absolutely soaked.

As the weather had become so dreadful Town supporters were kept away from the potentially wetter areas of the stand and were in one section of the surprisingly empty-looking ground.

As soon as we saw players passing the ball to one another in the warm-up we began to wonder how long the game was going to last. Every time the ball was passed it acquired an ominous looking wake with puddles visible in the penalty areas. Clearly there was a lot of water on the pitch and rain was continuing to fall at quite a rate.

But the game did get under way and very soon Town were in front. A freekick from the left saw Marcus Stewart head home and put Town one-up. The Blues were making the most of the swimming pool-like conditions, however their City counterparts were not doing so well. Town almost went two up when a back pass aquaplaned across the surface and almost caught Nicky Weaver out. The portly keeper got back and stopped the ball before it crossed the line.

Town nearly went two-up when Matt Holland latched on to a cross and put it wide when he should have done better.

Conditions were definitely winning over football, although Town were definitely on top. City, however equalised on 21. A cross from the right was met by a suspiciously offside looking Paul Dickov who hit home.

Immediately referee Poll called the two managers together and after consultation took the players off. Manchester City’s players argued animatedly with the ref while the home crowd booed vociferously. Off the players trooped and an announcement told us they were of for “about fifteen minutes”.

Not another ball was kicked and the last we saw of the Town players was them applauding the Town faithful as we left to make the 200-odd mile journey home.

Any blame attached to this farce? Well, it seemed obvious to us that the match should never have kicked off, but once it had why was it stopped? Waiting ‘til the game had got to 1-1 looks suspiciously like a referee trying to avoid the controversy calling the match off when one side had an advantage would have caused.

And what of Manchester City? Shouldn’t a club in a place so used to rain really be able to cope with few inches more than expected better than this? Tonight was the second occasion a Town game has been abandoned here in the last seven years. Surely they must have some kind of cover for the pitch? Isn’t it a Premier League requirement?

And so it’s back to Manchester again as soon as a date is fixed. I wonder if I can sue Graham Poll for my petrol…

Photo: Action Images

Ipswich Town Polls