Stenhousemuir manager Marvin Bartley reflects on the torrential conditions at Firhill after his side suffered a 3-0 defeat to Partick Thistle, revealing he had never witnessed conditions like that during a match.
Storm Boelo has certainly hit Glasgow. With treacherous conditions making play difficult for both sides during the second half of a top-of-the table encounter.
The rain and wind were so severe that referee Calum Scott halted play to talk to both Mark Wilson and Marvin Bartley about the possibility of bringing the match to an early end.
But after discussion, play resumed, with the Jags earning all three points. The result saw Thistle displace Stenhousemuir at the summit of the table.
With the condition of the pitch worsening and the match ball struggling to travel across the waterlogged surface, Marvin Bartley was astonished the game was able to continue.
He said: “That’s the worst conditions I’ve ever seen in a game. I’ve seen games stopped for less than that.
“Even their third goal, when you look back at it, it’s comical. The referee called us together and said to me and Mark [Wilson], it’s becoming dangerous at this point.
“He said they’d see how it continues. Then I just think he forgot what he said and played on with the rest of the game. I get it’s a difficult decision for him.
“The linesman on our side said that if it would have been like this at the start, the game wouldn’t have gone ahead. I wasn’t asking for the game to be stopped because that’s not right.
“They [Partick] were the better team and thoroughly deserved their win. But I’ve lost one or two players to the pitch and that’s a problem for us.”
A bad day at the office for Stenhousemuir. However, with the fixtures coming thick and fast, they have a great opportunity to get back to winning ways against Dunfermline on Tuesday.
