SILSDEN boss Danny Forrest has paid tribute to the club's groundstaff for helping the club achieve an impressive record in avoiding postponements.

The Cobbydalers have yet to have a game called off at their Keighley Road ground this season, having also gone the whole of the previous campaign without being beaten by the weather on home soil.

Investment to improve drainage, allied to hard work by chairman Sean McNulty and other club volunteers, has made a big difference to a pitch that used to struggle to hold up during the worst of the winter.

And the club are reaping the rewards. Following Tuesday night's home game with Bacup Borough, Silsden have played the most number of matches (26) in the division along with Cammel Laird 1907 and FC Oswestry Town.

It means they are not facing a backlog of fixtures which could derail their promotion bid.

Forrest said: "We did not have one game called off last season and nor this, and I would say pretty much nearly every team in the league has had a game called off.

"It is credit to Sean and the ground staff. I think they have really worked hard on the pitch over the last three or four years.

"It has allowed us to have some momentum and play our games sometimes when there have only been a few games on in the league. We might be a couple ahead of teams but I would rather have points on the board."

With the likelihood of more bad weather to come before the end of winter, it remains to be seen whether the can go another whole season without a postponement at the Cobbydale Construction Stadium.

But the pitch – set to stage a third game in eight days when Litherland visit on Saturday – has already held up when the surrounding area has been badly affected.

Last Saturday's 2-1 defeat at home to Whitchurch Alport was one of the few games in the Keighley district to go ahead, with six fixtures in Silsden's division being called off.

Forrest said: "Obviously there is only so much it can take so it but generally I am really happy with it and the lads can play football on it.

"Sometimes you look at all the fields around it when you are driving on the by-pass and every time it rains a lot, they seem to be flooded but we’ve had games on when it looks like a lake next door."