Farsley Celtic 1 Witton Albion 1

Farsley Celtic were held to a home draw by one of their promotion chasing rivals in the Evo-Stik Premier Division as Witton Albion came back from a first-half deficit, last night.

The visitors created several chances as they had the Celts under pressure in the first half with Michael Wilson, Tom Owens and Will Jones all going close. The home side had young keeper Kyle Trenerry to thank as he made two outstanding saves.

Trenerry foiled Jones when the Witton man was clean through, and later back peddled to tip a cheeky lob from the same player onto his crossbar. Having been under the cosh for most of the half the Celts snatched a 42nd minute lead when Nathan Cartman netted after a good run.

Witton equalised minutes before the hour mark and it was Jones who was the provider as his final pass picked out Rob Hopley who neatly tucked a shot past Trenerry. The Farsley keeper had one more save of note to make but there was no late drama and the sides had to settle for a point apiece.

That lifted Adam Lakeland’s men to fourth place and maintained their nine point advantage over seventh placed Witton Albion who have two games in hand on the Celts.

Liversedge were on the road in the Toolstation Northern Counties East League and they suffered a 3-1 defeat in the Premier Division at high-flying Handsworth Parramore.

The Ambers snatched a lead on the stroke of half-time when Jed Phillips lashed in a shot from distance. Sedge hit back five minutes after the break through Rhys Davies but Alex Rippon restored the home side’s lead ten minutes later and Phillips bagged his brace late on to keep the Ambers – who were beaten 2-1 at Throstle Nest by Albion Sports last Saturday – in fourth place.

Campion host Eccleshill United in an eagerly awaited Bradford derby at the sportsbulk.co.uk Stadium on Monday night and with both clubs in the hunt for promotion from Division One of the Toolstation Northern Counties East League the meeting will have added spice.

The home side are hoping for a special night and have slashed the price to just £2 for adults and £1 for seniors and under 16’s in bid to get more locals through the turnstile.

It will be the third attempt to get the re-arranged fixture played. The original date, Saturday February 10, was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch, one of countless games lost to the weather by clubs at all levels over the wet winter.

The game was given a second date, Tuesday March 13 but that was also washed out so the clubs have had to wait for their second meeting this term. The Eagles won the reverse league fixture 3-1 at the Mitton Group Stadium way back at the end of August.

James Bicknell’s black and reds are just outside the play off places but are in fine form and have beaten two of the sides above them, Glasshoughton Welfare and Grimsby Borough, already this month.

The Eagles are looking to secure the runners-up position and the automatic promotion place that goes with it but they will be wary of their neighbours.

Campion’s treasurer Andy Shepard said: “It’s a big game for both clubs as Eccleshill are challenging for an automatic promotion spot and we are still eyeing up the last play off spot.

“We are trying to attract as many local football supporters as possible and ideally any Bradford City and Avenue supporters by offering reduced admission to the game. I’m sure that given what is at stake for both us and Eccleshill it will be an exciting game.

“Therefore it would be great if we could boost the crowd and hopefully see some new faces around the ground.”