JACK ROSS played down fears about Sunderland dropping further behind the League One pace-setters as he backed the decision to abandon Saturday’s match at Accrington with less than 20 minutes left.

The Black Cats boss agreed with referee Oliver Langford’s decision to call off the game at the Wham Stadium after 72 minutes with the score level at 1-1.

A huge downpour in the second half left lying water on the pitch and with the ball no longer rolling properly, concerns over player safety saw Langford direct the teams back to the dressing rooms.

The pitch survived three pre-match inspections and initially held up well as conditions cleared, but simply couldn’t cope with the second-half deluge.

Sunderland took the lead through Chris Maguire’s charge down on 62 minutes but Accrington substitute Connor Hall levelled after a goalmouth scramble seven minutes later.

While Portsmouth took advantage to stretch their lead over Sunderland to seven points and Luton leap-frogged into second, Ross was in no doubt the correct decision had been made.

“I think when the game’s level it makes it an easier decision, not just for the match officials, but for everybody to accept,” said Ross after the match.

“But I had my concerns about the game starting, I think we were borderline on it being playable and the conditions worsened to the extent you can see it now you can’t play on that.

“It does have an element of farce about it after that so I’ve got no issues with the decision.

“Anything can happen in ten or 15 minutes, we were probably in the worse end of the weather with the rain and wind, and if that had cost us points it can affect us wanting to achieve what we want to do this season.”

While some questioned whether the game should ever have started, Ross had no complaints.

“In fairness, the referee spoke to myself and John (Accrington manager Coleman) when I arrived at the stadium and he had some concerns over it but what I would say is that the pitch is actually good and in the main it played okay in the conditions.

“I thought the match official did as much as he could in difficult circumstances, it’s not easy for him.”

A replay means another fixture in an already packed schedule - probably in January - but Ross was phlegmatic about the impact of that.

“I wanted to play the game, my squad wanted to play the game here, we were enjoying the challenge and experience of it,” he said. “There was never any dissent from the players about wanting the game off but you want the game played in as good conditions as possible.”

It will now be remembered as the game that never was, a game in the words of Sunderland’s Aiden McGeady that “wasn’t really a football match”.

A record crowd of 5,257, including 2,604 away supporters, created a cup tie atmosphere for a fixture billed as a David v Goliath clash of the former Premier League side against one of the game’s more fabled minnows.

Both sides tried to play through the conditions and it was a good contest while it lasted.

Max Power dragged a shot wide in the first half before a good ball from Josh Maja found McGeady who volleyed over.

Accrington captain Sean McConville took several dangerous set pieces with Ross Sykes close to converting, but Jack Baldwin and Tom Flanagan remained resolute at the centre of the Black Cats’ defence.

Sunderland finally worked Connor Ripley just before the break when Bryan Oviedo - an early substitute for the injured Adam Matthews - fired a free-kick under the wall.

Given conditions, a mistake always looked the most likely route to an opener and so it proved.

Ripley, on loan from Middlesbrough, dithered over a back-pass and Maguire rushed in to charge down his clearance, the ball rebounding directly into the net. Handball? The referee thought not.

Conditions were now deteriorating again and played a key role in the Accrington equaliser.

Baldwin failed to clear a ball which didn’t bounce and McLaughlin could only push out substitute Luke Charman’s cross. McConville’s shot was blocked by Reece James but Hall was on hand to poke home. Newcastle fan Hall was disappointed that his goal against Sunderland would not count.

In the final couple of minutes, McGeady carried the ball well and fed Maguire, who clipped the bar with the outside of his foot despite the ball sticking in the mud.