Shrimps suffer Newport County AFC postponement

The second-bottom Shrimps were denied the chance to seek a third win in four as they aimed to close the gap on the teams above them.

It means Derek Adams’ players will have had a 10-day break between games when they meet Chelsea in the FA Cup next weekend.

A statement on Morecambe’s website confirmed the call-off, saying: “Following a 12pm pitch inspection, the referee has deemed small areas of the pitch unplayable despite the best efforts of the groundstaff to get the game on.

“Further information will be communicated in due course.”

It also meant three of Sunday’s four scheduled League Two games were postponed after Chesterfield and Gillingham, as well as Fleetwood Town and AFC Wimbledon, had similar call-offs.

Crewe Alexandra’s home game against Bromley has, however, survived the freezing conditions seen across the UK over the weekend.

Following the inspection, Newport issued a statement which outlined their disappointment at the postponement.

It said: “The referee inspected the pitch at 10am this morning but it was agreed to hold a further inspection at 12pm to give the pitch further time to recover from the frost.

“Unfortunately, despite the efforts of the groundstaff to clear the remaining snow covering, plus the natural thawing of the pitch, the referee still felt that certain sections were still too hard.

“It was not a view shared by club officials who felt the pitch was playable.

“To clarify, the stadium was unable to put covers down after the game against AFC Wimbledon on Thursday night.

“By the time the game had finished, the severe drop in temperature during the game meant heavy frost was already in the ground and the pitch was frozen.

“By putting covers on it would have trapped the frost in the ground rather than allow the forecasted rise in temperature and impending rain to thaw the pitch naturally.

“The club would like to apologise to supporters for the late postponement, but we did everything possible to play the fixture.”