By John Baron
Lacklustre Farsley Celtic slipped to a 3-0 defeat to Spennymoor Town at The Horsfall Stadium in Bradford on Friday night.
The fixture was switched to the home of Bradford (Park Avenue) with work still to start on installing a new 4G playing surface at The Citadel.
It was the nomadic Celts’ 21st consecutive game played away from The Citadel, including pre-season, and you have to go back to April and the final game of last season for the last time a match was played in Farsley.
The schedule is understandably starting to tell on the players, who have put in a heroic effort to keep the Celts in mid-table. In the past five league games the Celts have won one, and scored just twice, failing to hit the target in the last three matches – although arguably a battling draw 0-0 draw at Chester a couple of weeks ago was a cracking result.
And judging by the sparse Friday night crowd patience is starting to wear thin with fans as well. Both fans and players will be eagerly awaiting an update on work on the pitch, which has stalled due to unspecified problems.
The Celts failed to trouble Spennymoor’s keeper during the 90 minutes as the visitors dominated from the off. A double strike from Glen Taylor and a goal for Rob Ramshaw ensured a comfortable night for Graeme Lee’s men, who arguably should have won by more.
Manny Mampala’s powerful drive flew just over the bar in the first half, and, while the Celts improved in the second half, they only had Rudy Misambo’s off-target header and a couple of blocked shots to show for it.
Spennymoor continued to control the game as time wore on, and Ramshaw could have added further gloss when he ran on to McKeown’s square pass, but his low shot was well saved by Wooster in the Farsley goal.
After the game, Farsley manager Pav Singh attempted to rally his beleaguered players and the fans, urging them to ‘keep the faith’.
He said: “A challenging night against Spennymoor, where lapses in concentration and individual errors allowed them to take advantage. These moments have been our achilles heel recently, putting us on the back foot. But we’ve shown real strength out of possession throughout the season, and this is just a temporary slip.
“I can’t fault the lads. As a group, we’re giving everything and working hard to put things right, despite the obstacles we face. We simply need to sharpen up in those key moments – defending the box better and being more composed in possession when it counts.
“I was particularly impressed with Sam, Dylan, Manny, and Robbie. It was crucial for them to step up, and they did exactly that. Despite the result, their effort and application were exactly what we needed.”
Injuries are starting to pile up for The Celts. Darren Stephenson, and potentially Cole Hyde, have joined Isaac Assenso, Lewis Turner, Chris Atkinson, Ryan Watson and Aiden Walker on the sidelines.
And The Celts – who are still under a transfer embargo which was imposed last month – have recently let midfielder Sam Leverett join Bridlington and forward Alex Kiwomya join Warrington Rylands.
Pav added: “We’ll need to dig deep. But I have full belief in this group. We’ll regroup, find solutions, and approach Wednesday’s game with the same Farsley Celtic battle-hardened mentality.
“As Nelson Mandela once said: ‘it always seems impossible until it’s done.’ Keep the faith, and we’ll find a way.”
The Celts are next due to face Peterborough Sports in another ‘home’ game at Bradford (Park Avenue) on Wednesday, but at the time of writing are still awaiting clearance to play the game.
Line ups
Farsley Celtic: Wooster, Hyde (Fox 54), Allan, Misambo, Sloane, Fielding, Branson, Greenfield, Atkinson, Youmbi, Mampala (Sturridge 54).
Subs not used: Assenso, Turner.
Moors: James, Dyson, Rowe, Beals, Staunton, Dolan, Ross, McKeown (Myers 81), Ramshaw, Fletcher (Mondal 70), Taylor (Harris 59).
Subs not used: Johnson, McGinley.