A night that was supposed to shine a light on a new era for St Johnstone was instead shrouded in fog, forcing the postponement of Steve Lomas’ first game in charge of the Perth club.
Referee Steven McLean had no choice but to call off Saints’ McDiarmid Park clash with Aberdeen when he arrived at the ground at 5pm.
It is the third time a live Sky Sports game there has met that fate, with fixtures against Celtic and the Dons falling victim to the fog in 2001 and 2002.
It was a bitter disappointment for rookie boss Lomas, who may have to wait the best part of a fortnight to get his Saints management career under way.
Saints are exploring the possibility of staging the Aberdeen match on Saturday, but that has yet to be confirmed. Until it is, it looks like Lomas’ first game could not be a more daunting one as Saints’ next confirmed match is a trip to face champions Rangers at Ibrox.
He said: ”We were well prepared but it’s just one of those things. You can’t control the weather. I thought it might even get poorer and you don’t want the worst-case scenario of having to call it off after kick-off.
”The referee made the right decision because you can’t play football in that. The house I’m staying is at the top of a hill, so looking out over Perth I was fearing the worst.
”It’s obviously disappointing because this would have been a home game to start off with and in front of the television cameras as well. That’s the kind of stage every manager and player wants to be on.
”But I believe in looking at positives and the thing we can take is that it will give me more time to get to know the players before we go to Ibrox.”
Lomas, who took in Rangers’ 3-1 win against Dundee United on Saturday with his assistant Tommy Wright, added: ”It’s now going to be a baptism of fire but that’s what I want to be a manager for. I want to compete against the best teams around, so we’re looking forward to it already.
”I went to Ibrox on Saturday to watch their game with Dundee United and was very impressed by them. Rangers are a quality team, they are on a great run and it won’t be easy but what a start it would be to beat them.
”I have met Ally McCoist a few times he’s a great lad and I had a chat with him before the game.
”He has them playing very well but from what I have seen from my players, their attitude and quality has left me very impressed and we will be up for it. It can’t come around quickly enough now.”
The Aberdeen match would also have been the first in charge for new chairman Steve Brown.
He said: ”It’s hugely disappointing. But there was no choice whatsoever. We contacted the SPL early in the afternoon and, as a precautionary measure, the referee came up from Glasgow.
”In the interim the temperatures plunged and he was confronted by a blanket of fog.
”Obviously, Steve Lomas and Tommy Wright were really up for it. But an early decision had to be made for fans of both clubs. We wanted to give them as much warning as possible. The club did all it could in the circumstances.”
McLean assessed viewing conditions both at pitch level and from the stands before giving the thumbs down.
He said: ”It’s always a difficult decision postponing a match because a lot of things have to be considered. It was outwith everyone’s control and Mother Nature wins again.”