Peterborough Sports boss insists the officials made the right call to abandon the game at Southport

Brown’s contacts book is large as befits a man with his experience and he’s signed 4 new players since stepping into the PIMS Park hotseat a fortnight ago.

Jez Davies, Malik Cadogan and Richard Faakye arrived in time to take part in an abandoned basement battle at Southport last weekend which was the second outing for the other newcomer Marcel Oakley.

Midfielder Davies is on loan from League Two side Salford City, while winger Cadogan is a former Swansea City player who worked with Brown at Kidderminster Harriers. Defender Faakye was recently released from Swansea City and has also played for Brown in the past.

All could be in action on Saturday when Sports travel to Harborough Town in an awkward looking third qualifying round tie in the FA Cup. Sports beat National League South Hornchurch in the previous round which was Brown’s first match in charge.

His second at Southport lasted just 63 minutes before it was abandoned because of a waterlogged pitch caused by persistent heavy rain. Sports trailed 2-1 at the time after conceding 2 first-half goals including one in the first minute.

Substitute Max Booth had pulled a goal back 5 minutes before the abandonment. The match will now be replayed in full on a date to be arranged. Sports remain bottom and the boss reckoned he learnt plenty about his new team.

Brown said: “I don’t know if we have been handed a ‘get out of jail free’ card because we were in the ascendancy and I felt we might have scored an equaliser and maybe even a winner. But I am the manager of Peterborough Sports so I would say that and their manager would probably say they would have got the 3 points.

“The officials had to make a decision though. The ball had started to stop in the water and it clearly wasn’t a safe environment for the players. We weren’t crying out for the game to be stopped, but it was the right call.

"I do need to educate the players about transitions as the change overs in possession are killing us. We have young players who love running forward, but if we then lose possession the opposition can be in our penalty area with two passes as they showed with the first goal.

"We do have an abundance of quality in forward areas, but we also need to learn to be better when we get in good positions. I did see some eye-catching football though and I want that allied to clean sheets.

"I tweaked the system at half-time to accommodate Sam McLintock who I really like and there was a glimpse of Jez Davies who is clearly better than what we had.”

Two more FA Cup wins will see Sports reach the first round proper for the first time in the club’s history, but Harborough are the unbeaten leaders of the Southern Premier Division Central, one level below the city side, and are a side with considerable financial muscle.

Sports are due back in National League North action on October 4 against Brown’s previous employers Kidderminster at PIMS Park.