PICKERING Town suffered another hiccup as their poor run of form continued on Saturday against Northern Counties East premier division bottom club Buxton.

In a game the Pikes were expected to win, they found all routes to goal closed as Buxton dug in for a scoreless draw.

Town, who have struggled to recreate their early season form of late, did have a chance to snatch all three points in the dying moments, only for Tom Reid's long range effort to thud off the bar.

In the West Yorkshire League premier division, Nestl Rowntree saw their title challenge go up in smoke as they lost to rivals Whitkirk Wanderers 3-2.

Having played more games than all their rivals, Nestl needed nothing less than a victory from the game.

But goals from Steve Scott, Jamie Reynolds and Paul Masterton cancelled the efforts of Brent Terry and Matt Wain to see Whitkirk replace Nestl at the top.

Knaresborough Town also tasted defeat as they lost 1-0 at Pudsey.

The NCEL games for Selby Town, Harrogate Railway, Goole and Tadcaster Albion, and the UniBond League Chairman's Cup tie for Harrogate Town were all postponed due to waterlogged pitches.

Updated: 12:04 Monday, January 28, 2002