Ian Butterworth's men were set to take on Nottingham Forest in the Pontin's Holiday League play-offs at Billingham Town yesterday afternoon, but the game was called off at the last minute.

Both teams had taken to the pitch to warm up when the Forest goalkeeper noticed a large area of standing water in the goalmouth.

Ground staff tried to treat the waterlogged area with sand, but referee Dave Webb decided it was not safe to play and called the game off.

Football League officials will now decide whether there is enough time remaining in the campaign to re-arrange the game but Forest suffered a similar episode two years ago where their semi-final was postponed until the following pre-season.

Butterworth described the episode as a "shambles" and said it was very disappointing to end a season, which has seen the reserves claim the Division One East, on such a low note.

He said: "Forest have travelled three hours and we should have known about the state of the pitch earlier.

"If you had got a leg stuck in that, someone could have got a serious injury.

"It has blotted the good name of Hartlepool United in some way which is a shame."