Referee must shoulder the blame - Bury Times - Friday, 27 October 1995:
BURY have been swift to distance themselves from any row with Coca-Cola Cup opponents Reading. The Shakers have made it clear, in the aftermath of Tuesday's heart-breaking washout, that they do not hold the Royals responsible. Instead, the spotlight has settled on Sheffield referee John Kirkby and why he bothered to start the contest in the first place. The Bury camp feel that the playing surface hadn't seriously deteriorated between kick-off and abandonment. And they were also bitterly disappointed for the fans who made the long journey. "In the cold light of day when all the emotion of the situation has cooled down, you cannot really attach any blame on Reading," declared Shakers' commercial chief Neville Neville. "The only gripe we have with them is that they weren't prepared for such an eventuality in respect of the supporters. "We have around 10,000 vouchers on stand by for such happenings and these can then be given to the paying customers and an announcement made later on how to use them. "We feel as a First Division club Reading might have had such a scheme in place. However, there is certainly no animosity between the two clubs and we are all looking forward to the second game." That doesn't detract from the fact that the Indian sign Bury held over Reading for many years was unceremoniously hurled back in their faces in sickening fashion at a saturated Elm Park. Two goals up against their highly-rated First Division opponents the storming Shakers looked odds-on for another Coca Cola Cup glory night until the weather and referee Kirkby intervened. Torrential rain poured down on the Elm Park ground an hour before the game and numerous puddles formed on the pitch well before the 7.45pm kick-off time bringing referee Kirkby's decision to start the match into question. "I called the game off because conditions were farcical out there." explained Kirkby. "It was becoming a lottery and the lines were being obliterated, in fact in some places they were washed away and it was just a pool of whitewash. "When we went out onto the field with the groundsman and started trying to fork away some of the water the ground was so hard that the water remained on the surface, there was nowhere for it to go. There is nothing you can do about the elements." A bitterly disappointed Bury boss Stan Tement had his own theory about what should have happened. "The pitch was no worse than at the start of the game," he asserted. "In my opinion I don't think the ref gave it a chance. If we'd have got through to half time we'd have had fifteen minutes to fork the pitch and have a good look at it. "Then, if after five or ten minutes play if it still wasn't right, that would have been a good time to have called it off." Reading's co-manager Jimmy Quinn predictably agreed with the referee's decision. "To be fair if we'd have been 2-0 up Bury wouldn't have been saying much," he claimed. "You couldn't play football out there, it was a danger to the players and lines were being eroded the referee was spot on to make the decision." To add insult to injury both Shakers' goals were superbly executed. The first came after six minutes when Tony Rigby received a Ryan Cross throw-in level with the Reading penalty area. The midfielder shook off his marker and chipped a teasing ball into the box that Phil Stant dived full length to head past Simon Sheppard. Ten minutes later the Shakers deservedly found themselves two up when David Johnson and Pugh combined down the left, Pugh sprayed the ball across the penalty area to Rigby who impudently chipped Sheppard with the outside of his right foot.
Winners of the rearranged game on Tuesday, November 7 will be at home to Southampton in the last sixteen.