TORRENTIAL rain put paid to Guiseley AFC’s plans to play a prestigious friendly against the American MSL champions Columbus Crew on Tuesday night.

With the Americans just minutes away from Nethermoor in the team bus, which was bringing them over from their Liverpool base, the match referee pulled the plug on the game.

From 5.30pm to 6.30pm the rain bounced down turning the pitch into a series of mini lakes.

There was great disappointment all round, none more so than from the host of the Guiseley club’s junior players who had turned up to witness what soccer Stateside had to offer.

There was some consolation for them when they mingled with the players who had beaten David Beckham’s LA Galaxy to the MSL title and they were handed out Columbus Crew shirts and souvenirs.

The American club, with a full compliment of 58 travelling members, were hosted in the Guiseley clubhouse where players’ food was hungrily disposed of whilst the mounds of food bought in for spectators was left staring back at rueful catering staff, who were left to contemplate what to do with the ‘waste’.

Hundreds of souvenir programmes had also been printed for the game but the Columbus Crew players eagerly snapped up some of those to take home.

The Guiseley AFC Chairman Phil Rogerson and Columbus Crew coach Robert Warzycha exchanged club shirts, pennants and gifts.

Guiseley coach Mark Ellis, who had made arrangements for the two clubs to meet, was left deflated and the Guiseley players were left to rue having missed the opportunity of testing themselves against a side that had hammered Everton’s reserve squad 5-1 on Sunday.

Columbus Crew were left with just their game against Liverpool Reserves today, Thursday, before they return across the pond to start their new season. The Crew had brought their full compliment of players with Venezuelan international Alejandro Morena as well as US internationals Brian Carroll, Eddie Gaven, Robbie Rogers, William Hesmer and three times World Cup veteran Frank Hejduk in the party.