The amount of dog dirt on a football pitch forced a referee to scrap a match which could result in a Scottish team being kicked out of a cup competition.

Referee Eric Robertson was in charge of the Scottish Youth Cup fixture between Nairn County and Highland rivals Brora Rangers.

He was unhappy about the condition of Nairn's Lochdhu Park and has since submitted a report to the Scottish Football Association.

Mike MacPherson, Nairn's youth chairman, is worried the side will now be disqualified from the competition.

It was the second time the match had been called off

He said: "There were various reasons the ref called off the match, including dog excrement on the pitch.

"We are just scunnered. It would be really disappointing for the lads if we get kicked out of the cup because of this.

"It is a very unfortunate set of circumstances and we are just waiting to hear from the SFA."

The match had already been postponed the week before because of heavy rain.

But the tie was called off for a second time due to the dog excrement and also because the pitch was still showing training lines.

'Danger to players'

Nairn officials tried to switch the game to another pitch, but the referee was unhappy about delaying the kick-off any longer.

Mr Robertson said he could not comment on the matter as he had presented his report to the SFA.

Mr MacPherson said: "We will just have to wait for the outcome before knowing if the game will go ahead later.

"On behalf of all the youngsters I ask that dog owners walk around the pitches and not over them."

The matter is now in the hands of the SFA

Rod Houston, general manager at Brora Rangers, said: "We had come a long way and were disappointed that the game was not played.

"We presented no objections to alternatives being considered and we simply allowed the referee to talk with the home officials in finding a suitable venue to play the tie."

A football association spokesman said: "What was on the field at the time constituted what, in Mr Robertson's opinion, was a danger to the players. No-one representing the teams disputed his opinion.

"The events of Sunday afternoon have been reported by the referee and the association will be pursuing the matter with Nairn County."

He declined to comment on whether the SFA was considering disqualifying Nairn from the Youth Cup as a result.