CONCERNS over the safety of his players forced Manchester Phoenix owner Neil Morris to call off the opening game in the Altrincham Ice Dome for the second time in 24 hours.

Saturdayés match against Edinburgh was cancelled on Friday afternoon because the ice was not hard enough but it was hoped the surface would be ready in time for yesterdayés clash with Newcastle.

But at 12.30pm é just five hours before the game was due to face-off é Morris took the painful decision to postpone the match.

éThere was a good possibility that the ice was fine but I just could not take that chance,é said Morris.

éBecause of the sunshine we have had the ice plant has had to work a lot harder and some areas of the ice are not as thick as others.

éOnce the players get on there and the Zamboni (ice re-surfacing machine) is used we donét know how the surface is going to react. The Zamboni could take the surface down too far and that would be dangerous for the players.

éIf they are at risk then there is no way I could play the game. I just couldnét live with that.é

An army of volunteer helpers had been on site working to meet safety requirements and Morris was confident these would have been met despite the fact that the building is still a few weeks away from being completely finished.

éEveryone has done so much and worked so hard to get this game played that it was a very emotional decision to call the game off,é added Morris. éIt would have been much easier to say éLetés play it.é But if the players are at risk then you canét play the game. You canét do that with people.é

The ice rink, next door to Altrincham station, should have been opened in September but problems with the foundations delayed the start date.

A new date in late November came and went and contractors failed to meet the January 28 deadline postponing the opening for another three weeks.

The latest setback should not hold things up for much longer and Morris said the ice should be ready for action within another 24 hours.

What the fans had to say:

éI canét believe the game has been called off like this and to be honest Iém a bit disgusted by it,é said Alan Lloyd, a Phoenix fan from Salford

éWhy do they keep making promises and not backing them up.

éSaturdayés game was called off because the ice was not ready and yesterdayés was called off at the last minute for safety reasons but surely they knew about the safety issues on Saturday?

éWhy donét they just wait until ités all finished before announcing these games.

éAt the end of the day though ice hockey fans have to be grateful we have a rink going up at all and weéll just have to put up with it.é

Mandy Johnson, of Iralms oéthé Height, said: éYou would have thought they would have known about the safety problems before calling the game off at such a late stage.

éBut I donét blame Neil Morris or anyone at the club because I know they are doing their best.
Neil is not a builder and he has to go along with what the builders are telling him.

éIém disappointed but not angry and I hope thatés how most of the fans feel. We have waited so long for this that a few more days will not make any difference.é

What do you think? Have your say.

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