With Harlaw Park passing an 11am inspection on Saturday I was astonished to find the turnstiles closed when I arrived for the league match with Deveronvale at the back of half past two.
Even as they opened it became clear that match referee David Watt was undertaking another inspection, albeit on a small area of the pitch in front of the enclosure.
Thankfully the game went ahead. However, this is not right. The pitch passed a mid-morning test and weather conditions improved in the subsequent four hours.
Indeed it was a balmy six degrees when I arrived. We cannot have a situation whereby supporters are encouraged to attend after an inspection and conditions are clearly improving, only to find the match is still in doubt.
Had the game been called off minutes before kick-off, it would have been another kick in the teeth for long suffering supporters – especially for those who had spent time and money travelling from Banff. To cap it all we would all have lost the chance to make alternative arrangements, which could have included the attractive prospect of sitting in front of the fire watching the Italy v Scotland rugby international.
In any event there was nothing wrong with the pitch. Perhaps the SFA should invest in cotton wool for all players. How times have changed!
In the early 1960s Queen of the South were playing a Scottish Cup tie against Inverness Thistle at Kingsmills on a bone hard frozen pitch.
That famous Queen’s goalkeeper, George Farm, kept complaining to referee Bobby Davidson and advised him time and again to abandon the game.
Eventually the ref halted proceedings and approached the goalie: “Mr Farm, if you, for one minute, think that I am going to drive all the way back up the A9 in these conditions next Wednesday to replay this game, you’re sadly mistaken. This game’s going to a finish”. And it did. That’s the spirit we need from our referees.
As for the game – it was a repeat of last week’s match with Keith, although this time Locos showed an improvement and at least secured a 2-2 draw. That was a fair result with both teams creating late chances, but failing, to win it. One can’t help thinking, however, that the end-of-season atmosphere is already upon us.