ANGRY Alvechurch made a needless long distance trip to Norfolk side King's Lynn on Saturday only to have the game called off an hour before kick-off.

The match referee ruled the pitch was too frozen to play on and postponed the game, leaving Church with the prospect of a return trip on a Tuesday night later in the season

Unhappy Church boss Ian Long was left fuming over the wasted journey and insisted: "The pitch was rock solid! The game was never going to take place.

"We left Alvechurch at 9.30am and within half an hour of the journey we were in contact with King's Lynn's chairman who told us the pitch was playable.

"But as soon as we arrived at the ground at around 1pm, we knew straightaway that we were in trouble.

"They've got a massive stand going down one side of the pitch which was preventing the sun from getting on it.

"The referee said he'd give it until 2pm but in my opinion, he made the right decision to call it off.

"We're play-off rivals with King's Lynn and it clearly suits them if we have to travel there on a Tuesday night.

"But if they think they are going to face a weakened side, they can think again.

"My lads are golden when it comes to things like this and they'll all get time off from work to play. We can't wait for the game to come back around again!

"I know our secretary Steve Denny has written to the Southern League complaining about the situation.

"We had a situation ourselves when we were due to entertain Leiston the previous Tuesday.

"Because our pitch was in doubt of being playable, coupled with the fact the weather forecast was unfavourable, we contacted the Southern League on the Monday and got permission to call it off, so we could prevent Leiston from travelling all the way from Suffolk unnecessarily. Why couldn't King's Lynn have done something like that!

"We will be demanding that King's Lynn reimburse our expenses for the coach hire and travel.

"What King's Lynn did was totally out of order because the game was never going to take place."

Fifth placed Church look to boost their play-off prospects this Saturday when they entertain rock bottom Bedworth United at Lye Meadow.

But they must rule out Lee Chilton who is suffering with a groin injury while Ash Carter remains sidelined with a two match ban.