MARCH Town United’s preparations for an exciting new campaign stalled on Saturday as their first pre-season friendly fell victim to a waterlogged pitch.

Torrential rain forced the Hares to abandon their fixture with Blackstones at the GER - denying Brett Whaley’s new-look squad their first chance to play together.

The cancellation means that March’s first warm-up game will now be tomorrow (Tuesday) night’s friendly clash with rivals Wisbech Town.

Whaley said: “It’s massively frustrating. The lads are raring to go and they are desperate to get out and play. We go into a tough game on Tuesday without any game time but there’s nothing we can do about it.

“We have got standing water all over the pitch. I can’t remember ever missing the first pre-season game because of a waterlogged pitch before.

“We have to consider player safety and the long-term damage that we could do to the state of the pitch.”