ROY MacGREGOR, the Ross County chairman, last night apologised for the floodlight failure which led to the half-time abandonment of the Highland derby against Inverness Caledonian Thistle.
The game, broadcast live on BT Sport, was called off after the lights went out for a third time in quick succession as a result of a local power outage outside the stadium. After a 30-minute delay, referee John Beaton, in conjunction with the police, the Scottish Professional Football League delegate and County officials, decided to call a halt to proceedings as electricians tried to get to the source of the problem. The match was goalless at the time. "We have let everyone down and I feel really sorry for the fans, the players and the people watching on television," said MacGregor. "The game was starting to bubble up nicely and this is a showcase occasion for both clubs.
"We don't know for sure what the problem is but it's something outside the stadium because our electricity in other parts is fine. So it's something outwith our control but I still can't help feeling sorry for the people who came to the game. We have had a lot of rain so that is maybe what caused it; we'll get the electricity company in to look at it and provide answers. We tried three times to get the floodlights back on but they wouldn't stay on so the referee and the police had no option but to call the match off."
County will offer free admission to ticket holders for the rearranged game but MacGregor insisted that financial considerations were not his biggest concern. "It will cost us money but I'm not bothered about that," he said. "All I'm interested in is how the fans feel. There was a great atmosphere, the Inverness fans stayed back and sang, so it's just disappointing it had to get called off. It feels like we've lost because it's the entertainment business and we've let everyone down."
Beaton felt he had little option but to call the game off when the lights went out for a third time. "That's the first time I've abandoned a match at this level," the referee said. "The first two occasions the lights went off immediately, then the third time it looked as if they were going to stay on. That was the last chance. The police had said if they went again they couldn't leave it any longer. Unfortunately that's been the case.
"We came to an agreement that third time around we couldn't leave it any longer. The players had been inactive for 30 minutes and health and safety has to be considered. With fans sitting in the dark as well we couldn't leave it any longer."
Terry Butcher, the Inverness manager, recalled it was not the first time he had been in that situation. "I had it many years ago when I was playing for Ipswich against Celtic in Alan Hunter's testimonial. The floodlights went off at half-time because the Celtic fans couldn't quite make it to the toilets and were urinating at the back of the stand!
"I was halfway through my team talk [last night] when the lights went out. John Beaton came in and explained what was happening and you start to worry. You can't pass the ball in the dark - although we have played like it at times this season. It's frustrating but at least we could have four-and-a-half Highland derbies this season. That's the only good thing."
The first half had been fairly tame but Derek Adams felt Inverness were lucky not to be down to nine men by the time the lights went off. "There [should have been] two sending offs," he said. "[Ross] Draper elbowed [Kevin Luckassen] and Gary Warren's was a really bad tackle on [Melvin] De Leeuw. I thought both of them were sending offs."
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