SEDGLEY Tigers’ match at home to promotion rivals Caldy has been rescheduled for February 27 after the referee chose to call it off just an hour before kick-off.

Torrential rain led to puddles forming on the surface of the club's Park Lane pitch but coach Geoff Roberts said the home side were happy for it to go ahead.

The match was eventually postponed, however, due to safety concerns expressed by the opposition.

And despite the late disappointment, there was a silver lining to the considerable clouds over the club's Whitefield base following defeats for fellow National Division Two North promotion contenders Stourbridge and Otley.

“The way it works is the referee will go and have a look at the pitch with his two touch judges and will then speak to the two captains,” said Roberts.

“On Saturday there was a lot of standing water but the pitch was still solid underneath.

“The referee said he felt it was fit to play, and our captain wanted to play, but theirs didn’t.

“What tends to happen in these situations is the referee will air on the side of caution.

“If something goes wrong then the finger will be pointed at him.

“Having said that, it really was a 50-50 call.

"We couldn’t have argued with a decision either way, and to be fair it would have been a mud bath – the pitch would have been a leveller. We have seen that before so it was probably the right call.

“In the end it was not a bad day for the club.

“The leaders, Macclesfield, might have won, but a number of the teams in the chasing pack played and lost.

“And because it was the last game before Christmas we had about 160 sitting down for dinner.

“That still went ahead and a lot of people stayed around for the afternoon, so we can’t complain.”

The Tigers, who won at leaders Macclesfield the previous weekend, dropped back to eight points behind the table-toppers but still have an eight-point cushion over Stourbridge – their main challengers for second place.

They now face a trip to Preston Grasshoppers on Saturday for what, weather permitting, will be the final match of 2015 before the league campaign resumes again on January 2 with a match at home to 12-placed South Leicester.

And Roberts has warned against complacency as they bid to keep the pressure on in the title race.

"Preston are a bogey side for us at their place," he said.

"They had a good win on Saturday (32-6 at bottom club Huddersfield) so will want to take that form into our match.

"We have to make sure we keep our focus and go into the Christmas break on a high.

"To get the win, we need to play all our patterns and can’t afford to be complacent.

"We always find them a tough nut to crack, especially away from home.

"But it is no good going to Macclesfield and putting in a fantastic performance then slipping up at Preston to hand them back the advantage.

"We have got to keep this title race in our own hands."

Captain Juan Crous and Shaun Manley have been ruled out of the trip to Preston, but Roberts says long-term injury absentees Mike Quickenden and Rob Holloway are close to making a return.

"Juan has got a relatively minor injury, so the hope is he will be back to full fitness come January and we can go into the new year with everybody available, added the coach.

"Mike and Rob were both injured in a game against Huddersfield at the end of last season, are on their way back.

"Mike was due to be on the bench for us on Saturday, so that is another positive. He has had a full game for the second team and been slowly working up to that with more and more minutes for the reserves over the past few weeks.

"He did his knee ligaments, but it was a case of rehab rather than surgery.

"He has put the work in, we haven’t rushed him and that approach looks to have paid off.

"Mike will be a great one to get back because he is such a versatile forward. He can play in the back or second row of the scrum.

"Rob’s injury has been a little more difficult. It was his ankle ligaments and it has been one of those niggly injuries that takes time to heal.

"He is a doctor himself, and the break has worked in his favour as it has helped him to do a number of things with his career that would have been difficult if he was in full training.

"Now he has come back in, he will give us options in the number 10 and full-back roles."