Farsley were the first team in the Northern Counties East League Premier Division to break through the 40-point barrier this term.

However, the table-toppers have played more games than many of their promotion rivals and they are glancing nervously over their shoulders.

Neil Parsley’s men could have been almost out of sight in the race for the title had they not suffered a dip in form. Leading the pack with a huge points margin in mid-October, Farsley lost four out of five league games and their comfort zone was eaten away.

The last team to win at Throstle Nest was Thackley, the local rivals claiming a 2-0 victory on January 4.

Parsley said: “It was a deserved victory for them but we didn’t show any guile or craft and I said that to our players after the game.

“I’m happy with the squad we have here and I have every confidence in them. There are one or two areas that need tinkering with but, overall, we are in good shape.

“The blip or bad run, or whatever you want to call it, that we have had can’t be excused by the horrendous weather.

“It hasn’t been easy for us but all the clubs are in the same boat and most haven’t lost form.

“We have given ourselves a lot to do and there is no doubt about that but the amount of games we have played could be a factor in our favour.

“Because of the demise of the old club we were not entered into the FA Cup or FA Vase this season so we played a lot of league games early in the season.

“When you look at our fixture-list we have no free midweek dates to the end of the season. That means clubs like Bridlington, who have one eye on the only promotion place this league has, will have a very congested end to the campaign.

“Brid have got six games in hand on us and it will be very difficult for them to get maximum points from those when they will be playing three games a week to get them all in.”