Wenger frustrated as lights go out

(Match abandoned because of floodlight failure)ARSENE WENGER last night suggested that the host club should forfeit the points if a game is abandoned because of floodlight failure. The frustrated Arsenal manager was speaking after the lights went out just 13 seconds into the second half at Selhurst Park, leaving the referee with no option but to abandon the game.

Wenger said that clubs should have generators to solve problems such as these. He also mentioned similar occurrences in France would result in the hosts forfeiting the match.

"The Premier League is very well organised, but these kind of problems, if they happen too many times, discourage people," said Wenger.

"This happened in France because of a storm, but in France the home team would lose the game. They concede the points so teams would not cheat when they are 1-0 or 2-0 down."

Incredibly, despite the millions spent on stadium rebuilding and team recruitment, this was the third Premiership game this season to be abandoned due to floodlight failure.

Back on August 13th Wimbledon had been saved from a likely defeat at Derby's Pride Park, while West Ham's comeback against Crystal Palace had been stopped in its tracks by an East End black-out on November 3rd.

And last night Arsenal's title hopes were left in limbo after the original game of one half. Wimbledon officials worked feverishly to get the lights working again, and looked to have been successful when they came back on after 12 minutes.

The two sets of players had even returned to the field to have a five-minute warm-up before reentering the fray, with referee Dermot Gallagher ready to get things underway again. But that was the cue for the lights to go off for good, the teams barely reaching the tunnel before Gallagher decided enough was enough.

Arsene Wenger and Joe Kinnear agreed with the referee's decision: "It's frustrating, because we wanted to win the game," said Wenger. "The Premier League have to find a solution. We were willing to wait a while, but we might have had to wait until midnight - and that becomes crazy."

Wimbledon manager Joe Kinnear agreed: "The only good thing was that it was 0-0 when the lights went out but it's incredibly frustrating, because we thought we could finish them off."

Wimbledon director Sam Hammam said the image of the game was being tarnished by the recurrence of such incidents. "Once was bad enough, the second wasn't pretty and this is getting near a disaster. Unless we stop it there will be shame on the game. We are all embarrassed by it."

Hammam added that Wimbledon hoped to offer free access to all ticket-holders when the game is re-staged: "This is nothing to do with money. We want to be fair to the fans who came," he said.

The blackout overshadowed what had been a fairly lifeless game. Dennis Bergkamp squandered an early opening after Sullivan failed to hold Marc Overmars' shot, although Wimbledon went closest in the 12th minute when Neal Ardley returned the ball into the middle of the box, Marcus Gayle flashed out a left foot and the ball struck the outside of the upright.

But it all meant nothing when the lights failed.

There was further bad news for Arsenal's title hopes when Wenger announced afterwards that Tony Adams would miss the entire Christmas programme.Adams missed last night's halfgame after damaging his back last Friday and Wenger revealed that his inspirational central defender now faces a lengthy lay-off."It would be at least two weeks before he can go back into training. After that we'll see how it goes. It is a big blow," he added.