Ref backs decision on game

Sutton: Made big call

Referee Gary Sutton admitted he agonised over calling off Tuesday's Johnstone's Paint Trophy tie between Bury and Preston.

He says he thought the game would have been a "farce" had he let it continue.

The official initially gave the go-ahead at 6.15pm, but was forced to abandon it 30 minutes later after the heavens opened.

"I came from Lincolnshire, I didn't come here to spoil somebody's evening," he told the Bury Times.

"I'm a football lover as well and it probably would have made for a good cup-tie, the conditions. But ultimately I've really got to consider whether the safety was going to be there and I think it was going to end up being a farce.

"There were concerns, but we decided to put the game on and did team sheets at quarter to seven and that's when I got a knock on the door from the chief groundsman with a worried look on his face.

He added: "It was really coming straight down and he was fighting a losing battle."

The fixture has been rescheduled for Tuesday December 18, 7.45pm kick-off.