The submissions are in ... now it's for the EFL to decide on Rotherham United v Cardiff City and the New York monsoon
ROTHERHAM United and Cardiff City are awaiting a response from the EFL after submitting reports following events at their abandoned clash last Saturday.
The Championship survival scrap was called off in the 48th minute when a freak rainstorm left the pitch at AESSEAL New York Stadium holding too much water for play to continue.
The observations of the rival clubs to the governing body are likely to have been very different.
Rotherham boss Matt Taylor maintained at the weekend that the Millers had done everything they could with the staff and equipment at their disposal to clear the surface in the 49 minutes it took for the ‘match off’ decision to be announced.
His Bluebirds counterpart, Sabri Lamouchi, felt an attempt should have been made to restart the game while Cardiff fans, whose team had been leading 1-0, used social media to accuse the home side of not wanting the contest to continue.
The EFL have promised to make a swift ruling and, at this stage, a replayed game, probably on Tuesday April 25, appears to be the most likely outcome.
No-one doubted the sudden deluge had left the pitch in an unplayable state, and referee Oliver Langford is believed to have followed all the correct procedures in making his decision to call a halt.
However, video footage that emerged on Twitter of one of Rotherham’s three grounds staff allowing water he had already cleared to run back on to the surface stirred fury in Cardiff’s ranks and among their supporters.
First-team coach Dean Whitehead quote-tweeted the footage and wrote: “Absolutely disgraceful!! We have a team fighting for every ball, every point in a very tough league and I witness this!!!”
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ROTHERHAM United and Cardiff City are no strangers to weather issues at AESSEAL New York Stadium.
The Championship clash between the two clubs five days ago was abandoned just after the interval because of a freak burst of heavy rain.
The last time the sides were in the second tier together, in the 2020/21 campaign, their scheduled Saturday, January 2 encounter was postponed only an hour before kick-off because of a sudden snowfall.
Cardiff were angry at the recent events because they were leading 1-0 when the teams were led from the pitch and felt the Millers could have then made a better effort to make the pitch playable.
They were much happier with the decision two years ago, having arrived with a squad lacking several key players including former Rotherham loan striker Kieffer Moore and boss Neil Harris’s job under threat.
The manager was sacked less than three weeks later and the Bluebirds went on to win 2-1 at New York when they returned on February 9
Last weekend, Cardiff fans complained of a wasted journey from South Wales to South Yorkshire and back.
There was no such issue in 2021 because the postponement came in the Covid season when supporters weren’t allowed to attend games.
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ROTHERHAM United had gone more than 30 years without an abandoned game before last weekend’s Championship clash with Cardiff City fell victim to the weather.
That match ended in the 47th minute after torrential rain that had suddenly started to fall at half-time left the pitch waterlogged.
Until then, not since early 1992 had the Millers started a game only to not complete it.
That was a Tuesday-night Autoglass Trophy tie at their old home, Millmoor, against Chester City on January 14.
With Rotherham leading 2-0, the referee called off the match because of fog after 66 minutes and the Millers went on to win the rearranged contest a week later 3-0.