Shakers told to play it again - Manchester Evening News - Wednesday, 25 October 1995:
BURY were told today there was nothing they could do about the controversial calling-off of their Coca-Cola Cup-tie at Reading but play it again. The Shakers were still seething about referee John Kirkby's decision to call-off their tie after 28 minutes with Bury leading 2-0 on a waterlogged pitch. They must now play it all again on November 7. The Football League confirmed today the scoreline is void and the tie must return to Elm Park. Bury - and nearly 300 fans - will take some convincing that they weren't cheated out of a surprise victory. Large puddles were forming on the pitch 30 minutes before Sheffield referee Kirkby surprisingly allowed the game to start. "The game should never have started in the first place but the timing of the decision was also all wrong," declared Bury commercial manager Neville Neville. Bury snatched the lead after only five minutes with a goal they might have had in any conditions. Tony Rigby slanted a cross in from the right and Phil Stant lost his marker to glance in the header. The second goal arrived on 15 minutes when Reading's defenders found themselves trapped by the rising tide, trying to pass their way out of trouble and Rigby instantly chipped home David Pugh's pass from the edge of the area. Thirteen unlucky minutes later for Bury, Mr Kirkby called it a day and explained: "The conditions were farcical and it was becoming a lottery. The touchlines were being washed away and it was impossible for the players to keep their feet." Furious manager Stan Ternent picked his words carefully as he tried to contain his obvious anger. "When he stopped the game it was no worse than it had been when we started," he insisted. "I don't think he's given it a chance." Goalscorer Stant was less diplomatic. "It was disgraceful the way the Reading players went on at the referee to stop it," he stormed. "Their players kept moaning at the referee, trying to get him to call it off."
Wash out - Referee John Kirby walks off the pitch surrounded by angry Bury players after abandoning
last night's Coca Cola Cup Tie at Reading after 28 minutes.