Scunthorpe United v Buxton to be replayed after 96th-minute abandonment

Scunthorpe United are second in National League North after suffering successive relegations

Scunthorpe and Buxton have been ordered to replay their National League North game, which was abandoned in the 96th minute after a torrential downpour.

Buxton were leading 2-1 on Saturday when play was halted, and had called on the league to award them the points.

Boss Craig Elliott said the 10 minutes of added time was in part due to interruptions caused by objects allegedly thrown at their goalkeeper.

A National League statement said the “fixture will be rescheduled in full”.

The statement continued: “The matter was considered thoroughly, with the outcome decided in line with National League regulations and previous occurrences of this nature. A new date for the game will be announced by the clubs in due course.”

The abandonment came on the hottest day of the year in the UK, with temperatures reaching 32.7C (91F) as part of the September heatwave.

‘Absolute madness’

Speaking before the league’s decision, Elliott told BBC Radio Derby that the referee had “abruptly” ended the match, but had not spoken to either manager.

“He literally had a quick word with his linesman, blew the whistle and ran down the tunnel,” he said.

“I think that was the most disappointing for me, the lack of communication, he could easily have had a word with us both. He could even have called us into his room after the game and said this is what’s happening or this is what we’re going to do moving forward.

“For us all to be left wondering what was going on was really disappointing.”

Buxton twice took the lead in the game despite the sending off of Connor Brown just before half-time.

And goalkeeper Max Dearnley saved a penalty from United’s Danny Elliott shortly before the referee decided play could not continue.

Elliott said there were two stoppages in the second half because of objects allegedly thrown on to the pitch by Scunthorpe fans.

He added: “I think the referee could have played the last few minutes, bad as the conditions were, or at least said ‘let’s give it 15 minutes’. The rain did stop and we could have played the remaining four minutes.

“The fans were still in the stadium 10, 15 minutes after the game because no-one knew what was going on. It’s absolute madness what happened. I’ve never been involved in anything quite as bad as that.”

Scunthorpe are second in the sixth tier, two points behind leaders Tamworth, with Buxton in 13th place.