In a bizarre cup tie at Inglenorth Park, Cleator Moor Celtic lost 3-1 to North West Counties Premier League opposition in Squire’s Gate.
Because of freak weather conditions – with thunder, lightning and heavy rain – the referee twice took the players off the field.
Manager Brian Dawson said: “A storm in the second half saw the referee rightly remove us from the pitch. Bizarrely he ordered us to go back out again when nothing much had changed.
“They then scored a freak third goal when our defence cleared only to see a deflection loop up and wind assisted spin into an empty net.
“We were then taken off again minutes later and correctly waited for the storm to clear before returning.
“For the remaining 20 minutes we worked hard to get back into the game and were refused a stonewall penalty. The ref then booked our lad for simulation.
“It sounds like sour grapes but we just aren’t getting the rub of the green at the moment. The ref later apologised for making two blunders which, in truth, cost us the game.
“They say things even themselves out during the course of a season so we will surely be due some good fortune in the coming weeks.”
Celtic, the level below their visitors in Division One North, had started brightly and went ahead on five minutes with a header from Riley Short.
The Hoops squandered a couple of chances after that and paid the price when James Boyd equalised on 21 minutes.
For the rest of the half they were the better side and went ahead on 38 minutes with a second from Boyd.
“In the second half, apart from the freak goal for them and the storm interruptions, we got to grips with their midfield and it was one-way traffic in our favour.
“We are just missing that end product at the moment, or ruthlessness in front of goal.”
Theo Ball scored a crucial third goal for Squire’s Gate during the storm on 72 minutes.
“We have a free week-end coming up so it’s going to give us time to get some players back from injury and others to recover from knocks they picked-up yesterday,” said Dawson.
