Farsley Celtic 0, Halifax Town 1

The Celts will be hoping the next time they host Halifax it will have nothing in common with Saturday's low-key affair played out in front of just over 300 spectators.

When the Celts gained promotion to the Blue Square Premier the powers that be decided their local rivals were Halifax and paired the sides together for the big dates on Boxing Day and New Year's Day.

The West Yorkshire rivals, bordering on either flank of Bradford, would hope their two league clashes create more interest than this West Riding County Cup second-round tie.

Both managers gave it their full attention by picking their best available sides but somehow it still had the feel of a non-event.

The first half was goalless but the visitors broke the deadlock three minutes into the second period. Lewis Killeen was allowed space and made the most of it to convert his only chance.

The closest Farsley came to an equaliser was 13 minutes from time. Leading scorer Damian Reeves spun in the area and got a good shot on target but Town's keeper was equal to it.

Farsley match-day secretary Alan Hirst said: "We moved it to a weekend rather than a midweek because we were both out of the FA Cup. We also reduced the gate prices but, looking at the attendance, we are wondering if that has worked against us."

  • Start or join a debate on this issue in our on-line forum - Click here