In a poor game the visitors took the honours with the only goal of the game six minutes from time after the game had looked for long periods as though it was heading for a goalless draw. And this after new signing Paul Brown had been dismissed for a second bookable offence following a brilliant tackle where he clearly won the ball - but the referee thought otherwise!

With Dean Jones and Chris Hilton absent through illness, Brendan West and Mark Lafferty returned to the defence with the second new signing, Andy Carney, replacing Mark Wilkinson in goal. Nicky Cranston returned to the side after the suspension with Chris Hurst moving up front following Matt Clarke's return to Halifax. The Blues almost took the lead after just 3 minutes when Gary Duffty blocked a clearance which almost caught Sutcliffe in the Celtic goal out, but he managed to catch the ball under the bar. At the other end Blackstone beat Brown before shooting just over and then the same player was denied by a brilliant one handed save by Carney. Celtic forced most of the pressure and Hepworth went close with a 35 yarder which sailed just wide of the left hand post and Elliott shot wide from 25 yards after he was left in acres of space down the Blues' left. Just before the break the Blues managed to force some pressure. First Cranston found Hurst in space down the right and he picked out Duffty with his back to goal but his volley hit the side netting with the keeper beaten and then Hurst again picked out Edge on the left who cut the ball back to Steve Price but his curling chip from 20 yards landed on the roof of the net.

The early exchanges of the second half saw the two sides cancel each other out before on 54 minutes Blackstone made a meal of a good tackle by Brown, who had already been booked, and the referee decided to award a second yellow and hence, a red. Both sides, but particularly the Blues, continued to give the ball away much too often which spoilt many promising moves. On 61 minutes Price saw his curling free kick from the left punched from under the bar by Sutcliffe and then West headed wide following another free kick, awarded after Blackstone's high kick on McAreavey. Then on 70 minutes Rob Hanby played a ball through for Duffty who tried to beat the last defender but was thwarted by the defender's arm. Amazingly, after awarding the free kick the referee took no action against the defender despite his handling offence preventing a clear goalscoring opportunity. Steve Price stepped up to take the kick but his effort was much too high. On 78 minutes Ian Edge carved out an opportunity for himself but, after beating 2 men he dragged his 20 yard shot wide of the left hand post. Five minutes later, Carney denied Celtic a certain goal when, with the Celtic player only feet from the line, he somehow managed to scoop the ball away from him whilst laid on the ground. However, Carney was beaten a minute later when Wharton scored at the far post following a deep cross from the Celtic right. The Blues did push for an equaliser, but it was too little, too late. Apart from a few scrambles, the nearest they came was McAreavey heading a cross by Price over the bar from 6 yards.

All in all Farsley probably deserved their win, if only for the more effort they seemed to put in for most of the match. The one good thing from a Frickley point of view was the performance of Carney who commanded his area well.

Frickley Athletic : Carney, Brown, Fox, Lafferty, West, Hanby, Cranston, Price, Duffty, Hurst (McAreavey 49), Edge. Unused Subs. Brookes, Bashforth

Farsley Celtic : Sutcliffe, Place, Perran, Stimpson (Noteman 79), Stevenson, Connor, Hepworth (Wharton 71), Shields, Whellans (Learoyd 90), Blackstone, Elliott