Blackburn game a washout

22 December 2012 13:16

Blackburn's npower Championship fixture against Brighton was the first match of the day in English football's second tier to be called off as wet weather disrupted Saturday's sporting programme.

The heavy rainfall affecting much of the country forced the cancellation of the Ewood Park clash due to a waterlogged pitch.

A post on Blackburn's official Twitter feed read: "Today's match against Brighton has been called off due to a waterlogged pitch. A new date will be arranged in due course."

A further statement on the Blackburn website said: "Referee Robert Madley made a pitch inspection at 12.15pm and with player safety paramount, deemed the pitch unplayable due to the heavy rain experienced in Lancashire over the last few days."

The lower league fixture list was decimated by the sodden conditions, with the League One meetings between Doncaster and MK Dons and Crewe and Bournemouth the latest games to fall by the wayside.

Crewe had held a second pitch inspection at 12.15pm, an hour after the surface was first assessed, but were left with no option but to call the match off, while coaches carrying the Cherries fans had already been advised to stop on their way north before a decision was made.

That left just five games set to take place in the third tier, at Coventry, Crawley, Notts County, Walsall and Yeovil.

In League Two only the games at Northampton and Accrington were set to go ahead, although the former were set to hold another pitch inspection before making a final decision.

Northampton confirmed their game would go ahead after an inspection by referee Tim Robinson at 12.30pm.

In the conference Kidderminster's game with Dartford was the only fixture to survive the weather, while in Scotland the Irn-Bru SFL Second Division match between Brechin and Ayr was postponed on Friday.

Source: PA