DOBWALLS joint boss Ben Washam felt ‘the correct decision was made, just 45 minutes too late’ after the Dingos saw their SWPL Premier West clash at Holsworthy abandoned at half-time on Wednesday night.
A 4.30pm pitch inspection was passed, but heavy rain in the lead up to kick off saw the visitors, and Washam in particular, feel it should never have started.
Kai Burrell put the village outfit in front on 42 minutes, but referee Mark Dobrijevic decided at the break that conditions were unsafe and called the game off.
While Washam admitted that it was right the call.
He said: “The game should never have been on, we warned the ref about that but he decided to give it the go-ahead, but eventually the correct decision was made, just 45 minutes too late.
“It was incredibly frustrating as we were 1-0 up, but player safety has to be paramount.”
While the decision shocked some, Washam was insistent it was right, as did joint boss Brad Gargett.
Washam continued: “As it gets wetter challenges become more dangerous for players, so as I said, he made the correct decision, but we should never have played.
“The pitch is never great there, and it hammered it down for about 20 minutes before the game started.
“It was only going to go one way once you go that far, but I’m just pleased there were no injuries.
“As you can imagine the players were fuming, but we’ve had this referee three times now and every time it’s been controversial.”
Gargett added: “We were in charge of the game at the interval, but ultimately the official has made the decision and tried to give it, in his opinion, the best chance.
“His reasoning was player safety and that’s not a reason I’m ever going to go against and I respect his opinion.”