by Craig Tucker

Sittingbourne joint manager Jim Ward felt the referee was wrong to postpone his side's home match against Burgess Hill on Saturday.

The match was called-off due to a waterlogged pitch only half an hour before kick-off.

Ward, pictured, said: "The pitch was perfectly playable. There was nothing wrong with it. When the referee turned up at 1.45pm, he said we’d need to clear that bit, that bit and that bit.

"We did that, the ball was running and bouncing fine and the players were ready but it was like he’d already made his mind up because he didn’t even bother getting changed.

"Both managers wanted to play. We tried to reason with the referee but he wasn’t having it. There’s only so much you can say to them otherwise you end up in deep water.

"It was disappointing because people had travelled to the game and 85 kids were due from our youth section."

Bourne sit eighth in Ryman League Division 1 South ahead of their match at Walton Casuals on Saturday. Midfielder Nick Treadwell (shoulder) and Simon Pettit (Achilles) should be the only players missing.