Roughyeds count cost of Bower Fold ‘white-out’

Photo: Paul Sterritt

Snow on the pitch doomed Roughyeds’ Bradford match.

THE postponement of yesterday’s Oldham v Bradford game denied Roughyeds income from “one of the biggest crowds of the season”, said a bitterly-disappointed Chris Hamilton.

Unexpected overnight frost on Saturday scuppered optimism that snow on the Bower Fold pitch would disappear naturally. Official Tony Martin formally ruled the snowbound pitch unplayable at 10am, leaving Roughyeds with a considerable financial loss.

Whether the game can be rescheduled for a Sunday later in the season — there are limited opportunities depending on Ladbrokes Challenge Cup results — or arranged for an evening in midweek, remains to be seen.

Roughyeds chairman Hamilton said: “For lots of reasons, the last thing we wanted was a postponement.

“Stalybridge FC was also keen for the game to go ahead, but as events turned out we had no option but to postpone. Overnight frost kept the snow on the pitch.

“We did a lot of prep work off the field in advance - arranging for extra staff, extra turnstiles to be open for Bradford fans and making sure they had plenty of tickets for advance sales last week.

“We are now left to pick up the cost.”

Scott Naylor’s men stay above Whitehaven, Swinton and Workington at the bottom end of the table. Over the weekend, Whitehaven beat Swinton, while Workington went down 44-12 at Batley Bulldogs.

Roughyeds travel to bottom-of-the-table Workington next Sunday.