Hartlepool United manager Dave Challinor makes case for earlier midweek kick-off times following Halifax Town postponement

Pools made the journey down to Halifax Town on Tuesday evening only to have the match called off just over an hour before kick-off due to a frozen pitch.

To rub more salt into their wounds, Challinor admitted the pitch at The Shay was playable throughout Tuesday afternoon and a planned 1pm pitch inspection was not required.

But falling temperatures and ineffective frost covers caused the surface to quickly freeze in the build-up to kick-off.

And the Pools boss was left thinking what could have been as his side missed the chance to close the gap on league leaders Torquay United to just five points.

“In hindsight, we’ve got two full-time clubs and we could have quite easily have started at three o’clock or one o’clock and played in temperatures that were sort of viable,” Challinor said.

“Maybe the way the season is currently, that’s something to look at with full-time teams if temperatures are going to drop once the sun goes down at four, five o’clock.

"Is it viable to play the games in the afternoon because we’re not allowed any supporters in anyway? Yes, clubs make money through streaming the games and if we play earlier some fans may be at work.

"But hindsight is a wonderful thing, we could have played the game earlier but it wasn’t to be.

“Under the covers, you can make assumptions at times. On Saturday [against Wealdstone], our covers did a brilliant job in temperatures of minus five and we got the game on.

"Unfortunately that’s not been the case at Halifax and regardless of when the inspection was, if the game was going to kick-off at 7pm, it was always going to be difficult.”

With fans unable to attend National League matches at the moment due to coronavirus restrictions, Challinor feels clubs have an opportunity to bring their kick-off times forward in order to give matches a better chance of going ahead.

“We’ve looked at it and we’ve brought one of our games forward to six o’clock earlier in the season [against Stockport County],” he added.

"The difficulty is that there are some part-time teams where it wouldn’t be viable, but on the whole, there’s no reason why we couldn’t play at an earlier time when the pitch is fine.

"If we can get games done then it makes sense to get them done then. I understand clubs could lose a bit of money through streaming by playing games through the day but, especially at the moment, it’s about getting games played as safely as possible.

“At 3pm, that game would have taken place. It’s disappointing for us because we’re on a good run and wanted to try and pick up another three points.

"It was a good opportunity for us because there were only two games taking place and we could have closed the gap at the top of the table – unfortunately we've missed out on that chance.”

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