Wealdstone come in from the cold as Hempstead are frozen out

A match in the Vanarama Conference South was abandoned at half-time tonight due to a frosted pitch - with the home team leading 3-0 at the time.

The giants of Hemel Hempstead were taking on the might of Wealdstone FC, unbeaten in 11 games, in a titanic midtable clash. Hempstead raced into a 3-0 lead after 15 minutes, but the referee felt it was too dangerous to continue after the half-time interval due to freezing temperatures leaving sections of the pitch frosted over.

The Wealdstone players were apparently none too keen to reappear for the second half, and who could blame them? Between the freezing conditions and the hammering they were taking, a nice night in with a DVD and a three-in-one was probably all they really wanted at that moment in time.

A total of seven Conference games across the Premier, North and South Divisions were postponed before the match at Vauxhall Road kicked-off, but despite this officials opted not to conduct a pitch inspection - a decision which would look very silly indeed come tea-time. Or three-in-one time, if you're the Wealdstone players.

Though it remains to be seen what the football authorities will decide is the best course of action with regards to rescheduling this game, it is likely that the sides will be forced to start the game again from the very beginning instead of simply completing the second half with Hempstead retaining their three goal advantage. Wealdstone won't mind the sound of the latter. Regardless, they'll just be happy to leave Hertfordshire tonight with their impressive 11 game unbeaten run intact.

The debacle prompted outrage on Twitter from both sets of supporters. Despite disagreeing on what the best course of action is with regards to rearranging the game, they were all unanimous in their opinion that the game should never have gone ahead in the first place. Too bad nobody told the officials. Except Wealdstone's manager.

So Wealdstone, thanks to Mother Nature, remain 11 games unbeaten while Hempstead will rue the loss of what would have surely been their third win in four games.

STORY UPDATE:

Hemel Hempstead have posted details of the rearranged fixture on their website and it looks like the entire game will indeed have to be replayed from the beginning - not just one half with the 3-0 scoreline intact, as some fans had suggested. On the bright side, the club have reduced their ticket prices for the fixture on Tuesday February 17th, with under 18s set to be admitted for free courtesy of Hempstead's shirt sponsor, Underwood Solicitors. Very generous, indeed.

In the meantime, if you're curious about the events of that first-half at Vauxhall Road, Wealdstone FC have been brilliant and uploaded a highlights reel of the first half on their YouTube account. Fair play to them, seeing as they were taking a hiding and everything. Listen out for the crunch of frosted grass beneath the players' boots.