Tyldesley Director of Rugby Aaron Adams expressed genuine regrets that the club had to cry off at short notice and offered sincere apologies to sponsors, players and spectators alike.
He said: "Our problem is that 9 of our players work for the same big engineering company. The company has a crisis on a job which means they must work all weekend.
"Our second team is made up of 16 and 17 year olds and it would not have been fair to either team if we had sent them up to Hartlepool. We are very very sorry, but it is out of our control"
Instead, Chocky Davies will have to go and watch Pools beat Darlington instead of getting a rare run-out in the back row!
Tha pack which would have started had a front row of Carr, Cullinane and Norris, a back row of Tom Dixon and Phil Henderson, and a back row of Davies, D Boatman and J Boatman.
Todd wuld have returned at full back with Lambert and Painter on the wings while Hodgson would have been rested to allow Phil Wallis a chance at fly half with Paul Moss outside him.
The four man bench would have been Williamson, Weegram Garside and Cholmondley.
We now go through to the second round on November 18th and the hope that we get a home draw .... we seem fated in this competition not to play at Brinkburn.
There is, of course, still rugby at Brinkburn with the Stags taking on Rovers Heughers with a 3.00 kick off. At least there won't be uncontested scrums in that one!