Guiseley's home derby against Ossett Town in the UniBond Premier Division reached a conclusion last night but, after suffering a defeat, they could be excused for wishing it had gone the same way as Farsley Celtic's.

Just a few miles down the road from Nethermoor, the Celts' home fixture against Runcorn FC Halton started but the Throstle Nest pitch worsened and the game was abandoned at half-time with Farsley leading 1-0.

Just five minutes were on

the clock when Kirk Wheeler headed Ossett in front. Chances for Guiseley followed but Chris Clarke, skipper Jeremy Illingworth, Scott Jackson and Mark Stuart were either just off target or too near Town's keeper.

Seven minutes into the second half, Andy Hayward netted the visitors' second and there was not much goalmouth action after that.

"The pitch inspection went ahead and it was all right to start at 7.45pm but, with the wind chill, it just got harder and harder," said Guiseley director Stuart Allen.

"There were a lot of people surprised that the referee kept them out there until the end."

The feelings were the same

at Throstle Nest, despite the Celts being a goal up when the referee decided it was not safe to continue.

Celts boss Lee Sinnott said: "We played 45 minutes and we were a goal up after Mark Bett's strike about ten minutes before the break but I was not at all surprised that the ref was not prepared to go any further.

"He was right and we have no qualms about that. We were in a good position and we may well have gone on to win but we have no grievances.

"The safety of the players is paramount. There is an area of the pitch under the main stand that suffers from the frost because it hardly ever sees daylight.

"If I'm honest, I expected it. You could hear the studs clattering on the surface, which tells you how hard it was."