A SUNDAY morning football team stands accused of forfeiting a match with 40 minutes to play because conditions were “too cold and wet”.

Evesham Sunday League outfit Offenham Rovers have received standard charges of failing to fulfil a fixture and causing the abandonment of Sunday’s contest at Mickleton Rangers.

It is claimed Offenham’s players chose to walk off the pitch 50 minutes into a match they trailed 2-0 despite referee Lloyd Bell and Mickleton deeming conditions suitable enough to continue.

The club has 14 days to reply to the charges which could lead to the match being awarded to Mickleton or a three-point penalty for Offenham. Either punishment could be complemented with a fine should the case against Offenham stand up.

League secretary Martin Malin said: “It would appear the Offenham players decided it was too cold and wet to carry on but the referee deemed the conditions were playable.

“We have received the referee’s report and are awaiting a reply from Offenham. Due process will follow.”

“I have been involved as a referee and league secretary for 30-odd years and this is the first time this has happened.

“There have been occasions when teams haven’t gone out because they think conditions are not playable but never during a game.”

Rob Holley, joint-manager and secretary of Mickleton, said: “We were told by the referee that our opponents had forfeited the game.

“They left the pitch. As far as I am aware they hadn’t spoken to the referee before that. The weather was atrocious but the referee was willing to play on and so were we.

“I was stood on the sidelines picking up the jackets wondering what had happened. It was very wet and cold but the pitch was still okay and the match was still close at the time.

“We have put in writing everything that happened. On the league results it says the game got abandoned but in our opinion it was not, it was forfeited by the away team.

“It was as cold and wet for us as it was for them, they decided they had had enough.”

Offenham secretary Olivia Tomes, who was not present at the match, confirmed her club had been asked to submit a report to league chiefs but politely declined to comment further.