MANGOTSFIELD United vice-chairman Bob Jenkins has accused Hereford FC manager Pete Beadle of putting pressure on the referee to call off Tuesday night’s game against Mangotsfield United.

Hundreds of Bulls supporters made the journey to Bristol for the Southern Football League Division One South & West game after no planned inspection was forthcoming.

But a frozen goalmouth meant that the pitch was deemed unplayable at 6.45pm.

“Our groundsman was up there all afternoon and there were no issues and, if it hadn’t have been for Hereford and a bit of pressure from Mr Beadle, it would have been played,” said Jenkins.

“There was a small section of the goalmouth area that was frozen and pressure was put on the ref. I left at 10pm and the temperature was plus one degree and at 8pm and 9pm it was still at zero degrees.

“Their fans and players were predicting the forecast, but it wasn’t forthcoming.

“The pitch was 99 per cent playable, apart from two areas.

“If we had the opportunity to deal with it, we would have done.”

Jenkins said he was also disappointed with the comments made by some Hereford supporters following the decision.

“To say our club is an absolute shambles is very disappointing,” said Jenkins.

“Some people accused of just wanting to make money out of Hereford, but we’re not interested in that. We’ve been in this league a lot longer than Hereford and we made every effort to get the game on. But the decision was made by the ref to call it off. If there had been an inspection earlier, the game would have been on.”

Beadle said: "They can say what what they like, but in our opinion the six yard box was dangerous.”

“I don’t have the power to call off the game, the referee does.

“When you see their chairman with a kettle of hot water trying to defrost it, it was ludicrous.

“The ref said it was fit and playable, but it was brought to his attention about the six yard box.

“He said that it was no different to what it would be like in August when the pitches are hard, but this was hard and slippery.

“John Mills and Jamie Cuss were doing a bit of work on the pitch and both had no grip.

“The ref then decided it was unplayable, which we were disappointed about because we wanted the game on.

“But the six yard box was dangerous and the right call was made.”

Beadle believes Mangotsfield could have done more to ensure the penalty area was playable come kick off.

“Shortwood and a few other games were called off early in the evening because the temperatures were getting down to below freezing so if they had an area of the pitch that was unplayable, then they should have done something about it,” said Beadle.

“But all they did was put a bit of sand down. In hindsight, they could have an inspection earlier if the ref had looked at the goalmouth, but it’s no big drama.

"That’s football.”