ALTRINCHAM have been kept waiting for the chance to land an FA Trophy derby showdown with Macclesfield after their qualifying-round tie with Blyth Spartans was postponed for a second time on Tuesday night.

With Macc waiting to face the winners in the first round proper a week on Saturday, Alty officials liaised closely with their Blyth counterparts throughout the day, in the hope of beating the elements and staging the game at the second attempt, following Saturday's initial postponement.

Their hopes were dashed by a 5pm pitch inspection by the match referee and the sides will now try again at The J.Davidson Stadium next Tuesday night (7.45pm).

Chairman Grahame Rowley described the lengths Alty went to in an attempt to get the game played.

He said: "After getting to the ground at 8.30 in the morning, I phoned Blyth and explained the whole pitch was white but reasonably soft underneath and that I'd update them at 12.30, prior to their scheduled 1pm departure.

"I then phoned the FA, who suggested changing to Wednesday.

"We could do that but Blyth couldn't, due to work commitments of management and players.

"I also phoned eight local referees to try to arrange an inspection before Blyth travelled but all were unavailable.

"We can but try in that situation and if people are busy at work we have to accept it.

"I phoned Blyth again to explain what had happened and they said they were happy to set off and give it a go, while we worked on the pitch throughout the afternoon, removing the frost and doing our utmost to make the surface playable.

"Even so, when the match referee arrived at around 5pm, he decided he had to err on the side of caution for safety reasons and deem the pitch too frozen to play on.

"It was disappointing but we did everything in our power to get the game on and were supported all the way by our opponents."

Alty return to National League North action on Saturday at home to Tamworth (3pm).