RIVAL managers Chris Turner and Garry Thompson joined forces to sympathise with Hartlepool United fans who suffered a 580-mile wasted journey on Saturday.

Pools game at Bristol Rovers was abandoned after just 12 minutes, leaving the 200 or so Pool fans fuming after a wasted day.

Walsall referee Mark Warren called a swift halt to proceedings to a game which should never have taken place in the first place after the Memorial Ground pitch was frozen following freezing temperatures on Friday night.

And while the referee stubbornly refused to comment as he remained holed up in his dressing room bunker after the game, the managers admitted they felt for the travelling fans.

Turner said: "What I can't understand is why the referee wasn't here early enough to call it off, before they let the crowd in. The fans have paid their money to get here, they've paid to get in. The rearranged game will be during midweek and a lot of them won't be able to get here.

"We were in Bristol on Friday night and it was obvious it was going to be very cold and there would be a frost, you would have thought that the referee would have come down for about nine or ten o'clock and he could have saved our fans at least part of a wasted journey.

"Why call it off at quarter past three after a five hundred-mile round trip?''

And Turner revealed: "The pitch was unplayable, but the referee seemed to want to be convinced.

"He came over to the benches after about ten minutes and told the fourth official that he was going to call it off in a couple of minutes, why not just call it off then?

''As soon as I walked onto the pitch I could see a problem.

"Safety of players has to take priority and if one of mine had been injured in the short period of play I would have been very upset.

''There has been a breakdown in communication between the referee and the clubs, which should have been avoided, and the supporters have taken the rap.''

Thompson added: "It's a hell of a journey for the Hartlepool fans, that's why the referee wanted to start it. But why bother when they only see 12 minutes of football? I feel sorry for them, will they get their money back?''

Pool midfielder Tommy Widdrington was quick to salute the Pool fans and was quickly over on the visiting terrace to offer an explanation. "The game should never have started,'' he admitted. "The fans have been on the road for six or seven hours to get here and there's obviously the financial part of it as well. I really feel for them and let's hope we can go back there and win for them next time.''

Some of the Pool fans were given their £11 back, but others were only give a voucher which is likely to mean free admission when the game is rearranged.

However, the clubs will be in contact this morning to discuss refunding those left with vouchers and unable to make the return. Irnonically, the pitch was fit to play yesterday as Bristol entertained Gloucester in rugby's Powergen Cup.

The game will now be rearranged for next year, but not for January 5. Rovers have an FA Cup replay with Plymouth tomorrow night, but their game with Luton on January 4, the weekend when Pool are left without a game because of Darlington's FA Cup run, rules out that date.

Read more about Hartlepool FC here.