RIVAL bosses Simon Davies and Jim Gannon hit out at referee Ian Williamson’s decision to abandon Chester’s derby with Stockport County on Saturday.

The game was called off in the 59th minute due to a waterlogged pitch, much to the disappointment of both managers, the 22 players and a Deva Stadium crowd of 3,783 – Chester’s second largest of the season.

Blues boss Davies later admitted he was “baffled” by Williamson’s decision, which was made at a time when the condition of the rain-soaked playing surface appeared to be improving. The score was 0-0.

Davies said: “To be fair, all the players on the pitch wanted the game on.

“It wasn’t the greatest football game in the world but you get that throughout the season. You have to play the elements. You have to get on with it.

“With half an hour to go it was drizzling, so I’m quite baffled as to why he chose that moment to call it off.”

Davies was annoyed to see County boss Gannon applying pressure on the referee to abandon the game during the first half, when the rain was at its heaviest and playing conditions were at their worst.

“Their manager was trying to get it off, in my opinion,” said the Chester boss. “I got one of the other coaches to monitor the referee’s door at half-time because I know he (Gannon) was trying to have a word in the referee’s ear about that. I wanted the game on.

“I know it was heavy but we were up for it.”

Gannon was unhappy with how the afternoon’s events unfolded.

He felt the game should have been called off in the first half, and was bemused when Williamson passed the pitch fit following a lengthy half-time inspection – only to call the players off the field 14 minutes into the second period.

The County manager said: “I thought the decision should have been made 10 or 15 minutes after kick-off.

“You could see the ball wasn’t running true.

“He (Williamson) allowed it to continue for the first half, decided to have an elongated half-time, which was endangering players’ safety, then decides to bring them out and play 15 minutes more and then take them off.”

Gannon added: “You could see the pitch was unplayable in the first half and the game should never have gone beyond that point.

“Once you let the game go beyond that, both managers were game enough to let the match continue but the referee wasn’t.”

Referee Williamson, of Berkshire, refused to comment on his decision as he left the stadium, but hundreds of fans gathered outside to demand refunds. No new date has been set for the fixture, although an announcement is expected soon.