Late call-off sparks Irvine Meadow cup row

Feb 5 2010 by John Woods, Irvine Herald

OUTSPOKEN Annbank boss Steph McMillan has sparked an amazing war of words ahead of Saturday’s Emirates Scottish Junior Cup replay with Irvine Meadow.

The pair were originally due to meet last weekend but the game was sensationally called off less than an hour before kick off, with McMillan claiming that Meadow manager Chris Strain had “badgered” referee Euan Anderson into making the decision.

“We were desperate to get on with it but their manager walked on to the park and obviously didn’t fancy it,” said McMillan.

“There were a few words exchanged so there is now a bit of needle surrounding the tie.

“Annbank were fired up for it before – we’ll be even more fired up for it now.”

McMillan claims he was devastated when the ref called it off with scores of fans already milling around outside the ground. “The goalmouths might have been a bit firm but we will play on harder pitches in the summer,” he added.

Referee Ross Haswell made an early inspection at 9.45am but although the goalmouths were firm he felt the sun would soften them up by kick-off time.

However match ref Euan Anderson called the game off 45 minutes before kick-off and, said Meadow boss Strain, the whistler made the right decision.

“Obviously given the conditions Annbank wanted the game to go ahead,” said Strain.

“But the pitch was downright dangerous.

“You could feel razor sharp lumps and bumps through your shoes when you walked on it so what would it have been like twisting and turning with studs on?

“Balls were flying everywhere and shooting up into the air when you tried to make a pass.

“You couldn’t even poke a key through the surface in one of the goalmouths and players were in real danger of picking up a bad injury on that sort of pitch.

“I can understand Annbank’s frustration because the pitch was a great leveller but we’d have been off our heads to want to play on a surface like that.”

Strain also denied he had put any pressure on the ref.

“All I ever asked the ref was if the ground was safe to play on,” he said. “The Annbank manager was chasing the ref all over the park, but I suppose his comments will add some spice to the tie.”

Meadow striker Richie Barr is the only doubt as he is suffering from a knee problem but there’s good news from long-term injury victim Gavin Friels who is now started running and doing some light ball work as he battles back to fitness after extensive surgery to rebuild his shattered knee.