NEWPORT County AFC manager Warren Feeney insisted there was no one to blame after today’s home game against Barnet was abandoned due to a waterlogged pitch.

More than five hours of rain led to surface water making parts of the pitch unplayable and referee Graham Salisbury called the match off at half-time with the visitors 1-0 up.

Rodney Parade has suffered drainage problems for years and County had three matches postponed at the start of the year, including one against Barnet in February.

But Feeney says nothing could have been done to prevent today’s match being halted after 45 minutes.

“The pitch is fantastic,” said the Exiles boss. “The groundsmen have done very well but you can’t help the weather and unfortunately the rain was just sitting on the pitch.

“It’s not the groundsmen’s fault. They were out forking the pitch and it’s just unfortunate because it wasn’t letting up.

“I think Swindon got one called off last week against Bristol Rovers.

“It is disappointing but I can understand the referee’s decision. The players have to come first.

“You could see that puddles were appearing on the pitch and the referee looked at it and the rain was still coming down.

“There’s only so much work you can do so I can understand his decision.

“It is a difficult one but he’s made the right call – he’s got to look after the players.”

Barnet boss Martin Allen was less understanding.

He said: “I don’t think it should have been called off. There were only three patches of water on one side that were smaller than the paddling pool I’ve got in my garden for the dog.

“I thought we should have given it another 20 minutes at least to see how it went, especially for the paying public and the Barnet fans who had travelled down.

“We were 1-0 up after a great start by the team and a good finish by John and who knows what would have happened? But we have to respect the decision and move on.”

South Wales Argus:

But Feeney, just back from a two-game touchline ban, disagreed with his opposite number.

“I’ve been in enough trouble with referees so I’m not going to stand here and say he’s made the wrong decision,” he said.

“Everyone in the ground could see that the ball wasn’t rolling.

“So we’ll be back here on a Tuesday night, possibly when the pitch is a little bit worse.”

He added: “We’ll get the players back in on Monday and it will probably be a harder session for most of them.

“It’s usually a recovery session but we’ll work them hard on Monday now.”