Ashville anger after fog causes abandonment of game in Manchester

On Monday evening (October 9) the Wirral non-leaguers travelled to Manchester for their first round tie in the Edward Case Cup at Maine Road's Brantingham Road ground. 

A goal from Lewis Willingham and a double strike from Ben Greenop had given Ashville a 3-0 lead at half time when a thick bank of fog descended on the ground.

Despite the game restarting after the interval, the officals took the players off the pitch on 58 minutes and the game was offically abandoned soon afterwards. 

Under the rules of the competition a replay will now take place despite Ashville's 3-0 lead.

A spokesperson for Ashville said: "We are disappointed and frustrated with the decision by the match officials to abandon our Edward Case Cup first round tie against Maine Road due to fog causing poor visibility.

"The game was paused temporarily in the 59th minute with the match officials citing that the fog was causing concerns regarding visibility across the ground.

"After a ten minute recess, the match officials made a second assessment of the conditions and decided to abandon the game. At this stage the fog had lifted considerably and it is the club's belief that the conditions were suitable for the game to continue.

"We understand that this opinion may be seen by some as one that is born out of frustration and bias due to Ashville being 3-0 ahead at the time, however, both sets of players, staff and supporters were in mutual agreement at the time that the game should have continued.

"The club will now liase with the North West Counties Football League (NWCFL) and Maine Road Football Club in regards to the appropriate course of action that should be taken from here and a decision on the outcome of these discussions will be made in due course with a statement to follow."

The Globe approached the NWCFL but they did not want to comment until after the next meeting of the League.

Maine Road FC have also been approached to comment.