Heat dome unable to prevent Falcons call-off

Dec 28 2010 by Mark Smith, The Journal

NEWCASTLE Falcons were beaten by the elements again yesterday, as their Aviva Premiership crunch tie with Leeds Carnegie was frozen off.

The Kingston Park clash had already been moved once from its original Boxing Day slot, with the club being given an extra 24 hours for a heated dome to work its magic on the pitch. But continued sub-zero temperatures meant another victory for the weather, as the playing surface failed a pitch inspection by referee Wayne Barnes.

Of greatest frustration was the fact that the assessment did not take place until noon, with the announcement of the cancellation coming after many supporters had already set off for the ground.

That timing, of course, was outside of the club’s control, and the swift relay of information did at least ensure that news of the postponement was confirmed fully two-and-a-half hours before the scheduled 3pm kick-off – an hour before the turnstiles had opened.

Falcons commercial manager Mark Foster sympathized, saying: “Everyone had worked incredibly hard to get the game to go ahead.

“We had consulted constantly with Premiership Rugby, the independent contractors who have supplied the heated dome and local experts, and had been positive throughout the last few days about getting the game played.

“But despite investing a lot of time and resource, unfortunately the weather has beaten us and the game has had to be postponed. I would like to thank all those who helped in trying to get the pitch fit for play, and apologise to fans for the late notice.”