their teams, Walsall and Bristol City, meet on New Year's Day at Walsall's Bescot Stadium.

But the real winner could be the weather as freezing temperatures in Britain are threatening the holiday schedule.

Walsall's home match on Saturday against Blackpool was called off because of a frozen pitch while Bristol City's match at Preston survived three pitch inspections before going ahead.

Goater scored in City's 2-0 win to join Lightbourne on 12 goals for the season -- halfway to the 24 each player netted last season. At this same stage last season, Goater had scored 17 for Rotherham while Lightbourne had 12 going into 1996.

City, who beat Walsall 4-1 back in September with Goater netting twice after Lightbourne had given Walsall the lead, are sixth in the Second Division with 40 points from 25 games while Walsall have 30 from 24. City have 21 league matches remaining and Walsall 22.