NEWBRIDGE Rugby Club today condemned a situation that resulted in their Premier Division fixture at Bridgend tonight being called off, leaving them with a mounting fixture backlog.
The game was called off at 10.30am ahead of a 7.15pm kick-off because of the condition of the Brewery Field pitch.
But the game was only switched to tonight from Saturday because the Celtic Warriors are scheduled to use the ground for a Celtic League fixture tomorrow, owner Leighton Samuel refusing to play at Sardis Road, the region's other major venue.
Newbridge claim they only agreed to the switch provided Bridgend had another ground available in case of a postponement, and they haven't.
"I'll be on to Bridgend's Derek King straightaway to tell him what I think about this," said Newbridge backs coach Jonathan Westwood.
"We had a gentleman's agreement with Bridgend, entered into when we met them in the cup a fortnight ago, that we would only agree to the game being switched if they made another venue available in case of the Brewery Field being unfit.
"We didn't want to play on a Friday night. Saturday is the day for rugby, but because Leighton Samuel won't play Warriors games at Pontypridd, we were left with little choice as we didn't want another game called off.
"Now we have the very situation we wanted to avoid and I am very disappointed. This is the second time this has happened to us this season and it's farcical."
The other occasion was when Newport prematurely called their game off at Rodney Parade on December 20, allegedly because of a waterlogged pitch.
It means Newbridge now have a backlog of five fixtures, for matches against Llanelli, Caerphilly and Cardiff have also been postponed.
Bridgend chairman King said: "The pitch is very heavy and muddy with pools of water lying on it and we could not play.
"We did try to get use of the South Wales Police Ground at Waterton Cross but couldn't do so. We also contemplated playing at Tondu but even if we'd asked them and their pitch was fit, their floodlights are not good enough."
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