Soccer: Big freeze hits Scottish programme

Today’s Scottish football programme has been badly hit because of the freezing temperatures north of the border.

The Scottish Premier League match between Dundee and Dunfermline at Dens Park is a surprise victim after a 10am pitch inspection.

The club had spent money on a hot-air dome to beat the cold snap and the players trained inside it yesterday.

Having already had their two previous SPL matches against Aberdeen and Motherwell called off they were desperate for this game to go ahead.

But they were powerless to prevent the third game being wiped out because the pitch was still frozen.

The only game in the First Division to survive the bad weather is the Glasgow derby match between Partick Thistle and Clyde.

The games between Ayr United and St Mirren at Somerset Park and between Ross County and Inverness fell victim after pitch inspections.

Also postponed was the Second Division game between Alloa and Stenhousemuir and the Third Division derby between Montrose and Brechin City.

A SFL spokesman said: ‘‘After the four inspections at Ayr, Ross County, Alloa and Montrose the matches were forced to be postponed because of the weather.

‘‘The Partick-Clyde game this afternoon is the only game in the SFL to survive and it definitely goes ahead because of the under-soil heating.’’