OK, it happens, games get called off but speaking from personal experience it's the third time in little over a month that myself and several hundred Cardiff City fans have been treated like we do not exist by officials that give no concern to the distances we have to travel or the costs incurred.
1. The pitch should have been covered.
2. There should have been a 9am inspection if there was a doubt
Sam Hammam and the Cardiff City Club may be seen as a "rich" club but the supporters are not. I travelled yesterday with two children, the same kids that have been subjected to two previous cancellations Northampton and Port Vale) and have had to fork out the necessary costs and more. With at least two full tanks of petrol wasted and the additional costs I'm close to £200 out of pocket and no one to claim against.
Peterborough should have made sure the area in shadow on their pitch was protected. They are to blame.
A spokesman, who could not explain why the pitch was not covered, said
"We had a mini pitch inspection yesterday (Friday) and everything looked okay. But we did not envisage temperatures dropping to minus six overnight. Part of the pitch in front of the Freeman Stand has fallen victim to the weather and is frozen."
City boss Lennie Lawrence told the Wales on Sunday
"We weren't anticipating any problem and the first I knew of even a doubt was at 11.30 this morning (Saturday) when Peterborough rang to say the referee needed me at the ground.
"I got there by 11.45pm and it was clear they had not covered the pitch, for whatever reason. The area in front of the stand was frozen and hard. The referee put his boots on and kicked a ball around for a few minutes. He said he felt the surface was a danger to the safety of players. That was the end of the discussion.
"Neither Barry Fry or I could argue with the decision because it was frozen. Okay, we have all played on pitches in that condition in the past, but if we had played and one of my players had been injured as a result of the pitch, I would have been mortified.
"The referee did everything right. He was professional about the whole thing. He was at the ground early today and gave it as long as possible."
What makes it even harder to take is that Kettering Town (in the Conference) only a dozen or so miles away was perfectly playable.
What makes it more of a farce is that Peterborough players were turning up at 1pm not knowing the game as off, their reaction said it all as they also could not believe the ineptitude of their club.
The only fair outcome will be a City win when the game is played. If Peterborough are not able to produce a playable surface at Division 2 level then they do not deserve to be in Division 2.
Angry of Cardiff.