Call off was baffling, says boss

The Saints were minutes away from kicking off a crucial Super League clash with Linlithgow Rose when the match officials decided to pull the plug due to an area of concern at one of the corners.

The same corner recently caused another scheduled match at Barnetts Park to be called off, but this time Barrett reckoned the postponement was baffling and apologised to travelling players and fans.

He explained: In all my years in football, I’ve never seen anything like today’s fiasco.

“Having had an early inspection and the pitch passed as playable, then the officials arrived early and did a thorough check then told us the game was on, at no time did I believe they would call it off, especially after both teams had completed their full warm up and were returning to the dressing rooms for final prep for the match.

“What was more baffling was they had to make a phone call before a final decision was made.

“I totally understand that the officials have the health and safety and welfare of the players at heart, but after being told twice that it was ok, to then get called off was remarkable.

“I can only apologise to Linlithgow, and all the travelling fans and indeed our loyal supporters, for circumstances that we had no control over

“We must now put it behind us and concentrate on next week’s game; however it’s difficult keeping players motivated when events like this appear to happening far too often.”