United washed out at Bashley

Conditions had been ideal at kick-off but torrential rain for the final 25 minutes of the first half left much of the pitch waterlogged.

Although the rain relented as the opening period came to an end and there were no further downpours during the break, referee Simon Hooper would not start the second half. The score was 1-1 at the time.

Hastings manager Steve Lovell agreed with the decision. "The referee did well to let the game go ahead but when the rain came down it made it a bit of a lottery," he said.

Home boss Geoff Butler was furious but an injury to new signing Simon Rowland, who slide into the post as he went for goal, probably helped the official make up his mind.

"I told the linesman during the game it was becoming a bit of a joke and someone's going to get injured and that's exactly what happened with Simon," he went on. "I didn't think it was right to carry on because someone might have got seriously injured."

It was a pity for United who had come back into the game after starting on the back foot. A goal down after only six minutes they could easily have shipped another couple, but once they had drawn level they dominated proceedings and could have been two goals to the good themselves before the break.

Russell Eldridge had already made a couple of sloppy clearances and a third proved costly. The ball fell at the feet of Luke Byles who from the edge of the area blasted past goalkeeper Danny Knowles.

The Bash came close to adding to their score on a couple of occasions. Knowles did well to deal with a cross from Richard Gillespie and the ever-improving Richard Bolton was in the right place to head off the goal-line following another fierce drive from Byles.

United levelled things up in the 37th minute with a spectacular effort from Ryan Peters. Spotting home goalkeeper David Elm off his line, he chipped the ball high enough for it to drop inside the far post.

The visitors took control of the closing stages with Elm keeping out Carl Rook's well-struck shot from just outside the box. The ball ran loose and Rowland collided with the woodwork when trying to make the most of the situation. After lengthy treatment Rowland was carried off and replaced by Chris Honey.

With both sides preparing for the second half the referee and his two assistants carried out a pitch inspection and announced their decision to call it a day.