Constant rain at Skilled Park resulted in two pitch inspections before the match begun, and despite a break in the downpour which allowed the pitch to drain somewhat and the match to get underway, referee Chris Beath was left with no other option but to call a halt to proceedings 19 minutes in, with large sections of the playing surface under water.
 
“The decision was made to play the game and that’s the way it is, but I knew that once there was one big downpour it was gone, it would be over.
 
“When Chris (Beath) stopped the game, he went to (captains) Alex (Wilkinson) and Jason (Culina), the timing was right. When the ball stops rolling and gets stuck in puddles it’s not a spectacle for supporters, then you run a major risk of collisions, players can’t change directions, and injuries can occur,” said Mariners Head Coach Graham Arnold.
 
The Mariners will face off with the Fury on Wednesday night to kick-start a massive run of five home matches over the Christmas period, whilst Football Federation Australia and the relevant stakeholders must now work to fit the rescheduled match into an already busy schedule for both clubs.
 
“We have seven-and-a-half or eight weeks to play 12 games so it is going to be a very tight schedule for us.
 
“We’ve got five matches at home in a row and we didn’t need the extra travel for nothing,” Arnold said.