Celts left counting cost of loan law

1:42pm Friday 25th April 2008

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It's often said that one man can make - or break - a team.

Take Liverpool without Steven Gerrard, Manchester United minus Cristiano Ronaldo or Arsenal with no Cesc Fabregas. None of them would carry the same force.

Craig Bentham might be flattered to be mentioned in the same breath but it's hard to argue against his impact at Farsley Celtic this season.

He finished his three-month loan spell at Throstle Nest three weeks ago, bowing out with a man-of-the-match display to dig out an unlikely triumph at second-placed Torquay.

At that stage, the Celts were up to seventh from bottom; only three points above the drop zone but with a home game against basement side Droylsden to come.

Yet they lost that and the four matches since, culminating in Tuesday's 4-1 defeat at York which nailed the lid on relegation after just one year at the peak of the non-league pyramid.

While his former team-mates toiled at KitKat Crescent, Bentham tucked in to roast lamb at the Valley Parade player-of-the-year awards.

Life without Bentham has seen Farsley play five and lose five. It is also likely to cost them the midfielder's permanent signature in the summer because he will be reluctant to drop down a further division to the Blue Square North.

Bentham is back with the Bantams for the final days of their campaign, though his prospects of employment with the club beyond that are bleak.

He was desperate to stay with the Celts and helped keep them above the trap door. City, too, were more than happy to let him remain on loan.

But Conference laws blocked any extension beyond the permitted 93 days - rules are rules and all that - but you can understand why Bentham's thoughts strayed to what was happening in north Yorkshire while he reluctantly ate his dinner at City's end-of-term bash.

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