VIDEO: John Gregory - the referee made the correct decision

Crawley Town manager John Gregory described playing in the wet and windy conditions as a ‘complete farce’ on Wednesday night.
Crawley Town V Bristol Rovers FA Cup replay match abandoned (Pic by Jon Rigby)Crawley Town V Bristol Rovers FA Cup replay match abandoned (Pic by Jon Rigby)
Crawley Town V Bristol Rovers FA Cup replay match abandoned (Pic by Jon Rigby)

He agreed with referee Stuart Attwell’s decision to abandon Red’s FA Cup 2nd round replay against Bristol Rovers and recognised the pressures the official was under to allow the game to continue.

Grergory said: “The pitch was a complete farce. The ball couldn’t be passed on the surface with water laying on it and it became a complete lottery.

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“The referee was waiting for someone to score so we would have to carry on and he didn’t really want to stop it because of the implications with the fans, the media and finding another time to play.

Crawley Town V Bristol Rovers FA Cup replay match abandoned (Pic by Jon Rigby)Crawley Town V Bristol Rovers FA Cup replay match abandoned (Pic by Jon Rigby)
Crawley Town V Bristol Rovers FA Cup replay match abandoned (Pic by Jon Rigby)

“We’ve been offered the option of coming back next week but we just can’t fit that in obviously over the Christmas period.

“FA Cup third round week (January 4) is the sensible option.

“Hopefully we’ll have the pitch back in good condition and we’ll see a better football match.”

He praised the fans who he believed deserve a medal for turning out to see the game despite the horrendous weather.

Click on the video above to watch John Gregory’s post match comments.

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