Histon chairman Baldwin felt the tie should have gone ahead
Histon chairman Gareth Baldwin has accused FA Cup rivals Swansea City of persuading referee Phil Crossley to call off their third round clash.
Crossley postponed the game three-and-a-half hours before kick-off as the Glass World Stadium pitch was frozen.
But Baldwin told BBC Radio Cambridgeshire: "The lads have trained on the pitch today with no mishaps.
"The Swansea officials were on their phones to the FA from nine o'clock this morning saying the pitch was not safe."
The Championship club were asked for their side of the story but a spokesman said Swansea "did not want to make a comment."
Daniels added: "We tried to get the referee to wait another half-hour or 45 minutes - the temperature has changed and the top inch of the pitch is now wet.
"I spoke to the referee on the telephone at 0930, and he said that Swansea were already in Cambridge, so there was no issue - so let's get the game on.
"But when he arrived, he had the assistant manager of Swansea and a number of their staff in his earhole, saying the pitch was not fit.
"As I explained to him, the Swansea fans left at 0600 this morning, so whether we called it off at 1130, 1200 or even 1230, it wouldn't have made any difference.
"All we asked of him was to wait another half-hour, but he's made his decision based on the weather forecast.
"My view was 'let's start the game, and if we have to call it off at 1630 because the pitch is frozen, then that's what we have to do.
We knew the forecast and, while Histon tried everything to get the game on, I think sometimes people can think with their hearts rather than their heads in this kind of situation
Swansea City manager Roberto Martinez
"If you don't start the game, you've got no chance of finishing it.
"The positive is that Histon will be in the fourth-round draw on Sunday."
In a separate interview with BBC Radio Wales, he added: "The telling question for me is that would we kick off if the game was now? The answer is yes.
"I think the assistant manager of Swansea has perhaps applied a bit of pressure. I'm disappointed about that.
"We'll have to pay the police costs and the stewarding costs, and we've got 140 corporate meals we'll have to pay for, but that's part and parcel of operating at this level.
"The FA Cup's been very kind to us this year, so we can't really quibble about that."
But Swansea have issued a statement rejecting Baldwin's comments about assistant boss Graeme Jones.
It read: "Obviously the Histon chairman is a bit confused because the assistant manager Graeme Jones never left the team hotel."
Kent official Crossley said the pitch was playable at the time of the 1130 GMT pitch inspection but due to the bitterly cold forecast, he could not guarantee the game could finish.
Crossley said: "When it comes to making a decision, I make an independent decision - whatever thoughts were being passed to me must not come into the equation.
"It would be easy for me just to say 'let's get the game on'.
"But if five minutes down the line, someone had a bad injury the onus would have come back on to me.
"People would have asked 'why did you start the game when the conditions were as such?' so I made an educated decision.
"It is probably the worse decision you have to make as a referee, postponing a game in the third round of the FA Cup.
"As it is the magic of the FA Cup when you got a non-league club against a league club and everybody is looking forward to the game.
"But the most important factor for me is players' safety and given that the underfoot conditions are still frozen and I can't see the pitch improving, I made the decision."
Crossley's call was a blow to Blue Square Premier high-fliers Histon, who were all set for arguably the biggest and most lucrative game in their history as it was their first appearance in the FA Cup third round.
But when asked if he thought the game would have gone ahead if this had been a Blue Square Premier match, Baldwin told BBC Radio Wales: "100% yes.
"Swansea didn't want to play it, there's no question about that.
"They were saying it is not safe and not playable but you can see it's already got a bit of give in the surface.
"I understand they are a Championship side with very high-paid players that they've got to protect.
"And we care about our players whether they are in the League or the Conference.
"I spoke to our gaffer and he said he had no problem - and to give you an indication, our players will be training on here later today.
"Maybe it would have suited us a bit better playing today with it being a bit tricky but there you go, that's life."
Baldwin's comments heightened the war of words between Histon and Swansea.
The sides traded verbal blows when Swansea claimed Histon players were 'ignorant' after they said being paired with the Championship club was a scant prize for shocking Leeds in round two.
Swans manager Roberto Martinez added to the hostilities when he said: "We are annoyed in a way because we thought the postponement could have been a possibility.
"We knew the forecast and, while Histon tried everything to get the game on, I think sometimes people can think with their hearts rather than their heads in this kind of situation.
"It's disappointing because it's a big inconvenience for our fans, who had travelled a long way by the time the game was called off, and it's inconvenient for the players."
Swansea, who were expecting 600 travelling fans at Histon, had asked for a pitch inspection to take place on Friday afternoon but were told there was no cause for concern.
The game has been rescheduled for Tuesday, 13 January.
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