Forest Green A-A Oldham Athletic: Bosses differ on referee's abandonment call

Conditions deteriorated after half-time at the New Lawn, forcing the referee to call the game off

Forest Green Rovers boss Mark Cooper was unhappy with the decision to abandon Saturday's home game with Oldham after dense fog set in during the second half.

Nicky Cadden had given Rovers the lead in the League Two match but Zak Dearnley equalised in first-half stoppage time, just before the fog set in during the interval - leading to a 40-minute delay.

Referee Robert Lewis did allow the teams back out but called halt to the match just 13 minutes later after speaking with both bosses with the scores still level at 1-1 and the fog still affecting play.

"The referee didn't want to play the game from the start to be honest and that's his decision - good luck to him," Cooper said.

"I had given up listening to him by about 3pm onwards and he just didn't want to play the game. We wanted to play and you could see in our performance - we were outstanding and if we had been four up at half-time, nobody could have complained."

Visiting Latics boss Harry Kewell praised the groundstaff for their "professionalism" but also said the pitch was difficult for players in areas because of the recent cold temperatures.

Kewell was happy with the call to abandon the game, despite a 320-mile round trip in vain for the fixture.

"With the fog coming in it didn't really help the situation," he added. "In the end the ball was going up in the air and no-one could see it. A player went down injured and no-one really saw that either.

"The ref had to take into consideration the weather, the elements, and I think he made the right decision. The most important thing is the players' safety and their health."

Earlier, Rovers took the lead on 20 minutes after Aaron Collins missed a chance to put his side ahead inside four minutes. Nicky Cadden picked the pocket of Dylan Fage to burst into the box and plant a rising drive beyond the hapless Lawlor.

Rovers had a 30th-minute penalty appeal dismissed when Oldham captain Carl Piergianni appeared to clip Collins, who arrived at speed in the box.

As the fog descended, Oldham restored parity deep into first-half stoppage time as Dearnley picked his spot from the edge of the box beyond Luke McGee.