Good evening! Thank you very much for joining Sports Mole for tonight's League Two playoff semi-final first leg between York City and Fleetwood Town at Bootham Crescent. Both sides went into the season with differing ambitions and ended it with contrasting emotions, yet it is tough to separate the two teams tonight, so we should be in for an intriguing affair. Let's start with a look at the hosts...

What a second half of the season it has been for York, who have defied all pre-season expectations to reach the playoffs. Even the most optimistic fan would not have tipped them for a top-seven push at the turn of the year, yet in the end they gained a place in the playoffs fairly comfortably. They pipped Oxford United, who were among the favourites to go up before the season, to the final spot and now find themselves in with a real chance of promotion.

That makes for an incredible feat by manager Nigel Worthington, whose team were 22nd in the League Two table on December 29. All involved with the club were gearing up for another relegation battle in 2014, but instead they went shooting up the table to clinch a playoff place. While last season they were forced to wait until the final day of the season to secure their place in the Football League, this time around they could well be going to Wembley and moving up into League One.

They may have finished in the last available spot and be the outsiders in terms of pre-season favourites, but York come into the playoffs as the form team. They finished the season with a remarkable 17-match unbeaten streak that stretches all the way back to January, when they lost to eventual champions Chesterfield 2-0. Of those 17 matches, they have won 11 and drawn six, taking advantage of shaky form from the other teams involved in the race for the top seven.

They ended up beating Oxford to seventh place by nine points, although the size of that gap is slightly misleading. The race went on until the latter stages of the campaign, but York's relentless form saw them get over the finish line comfortably ahead of their rivals in the end. Should Worthington lead them all the way into League One, they would surely be one of the most unlikely teams to go up in recent times.

The basis for their improved form at the end of the season was a very solid defence, which saw them win matches without scoring bucket loads of goals themselves. Indeed, only two teams have conceded fewer goals in the league all season, with York letting in just 41 in their 46 outings in the regular campaign. If they can keep up that average of conceding less than a goal a game then they would stand a very good chance of going up.

Even more impressive is their defensive record in recent weeks. Throughout their 17-match unbeaten streak they have conceded just five times, scoring 20 and keeping a whopping 13 clean sheets. The final day 2-2 draw against already-promoted Scunthorpe was a blip in that regard, but even on that occasion they managed to fight back from two goals down without conceding any more.

Their home form is just as impressive, with no defeats in their last nine matches at Bootham Crescent since that January loss to Chesterfield. They have, however, drawn four of those nine games which, while still being an impressive record, could end up being costly over the two-legged tie they find themselves in here. They have only been beaten once in their last 17 home league games, and a victory tonight would set them up nicely for Friday's second leg at Highbury.

Combine the two, and it is unsurprising to find out that York also have the best defensive record at home in the league this season. They let in just 15 goals in their 23 matches at Bootham Crescent over the regular campaign, including just two in their last nine and five in their last 16. They have also kept five clean sheets in their last six home league games, so Fleetwood will have a task on their hands breaching the defence tonight.

If there is a weakness in the York team, it comes at the other end, with Worthington's men managing just 52 goals from their 46 outings this season. It is by no means a miserly total, but it is still the 10th worst in the league which, for a team in the playoffs, is poor. They will very much be relying on their defensive strength to get them past Fleetwood over the two ties.

Fleetwood went into the season with completely different ambitions to York. While their opponents tonight were anticipating a relegation battle, Fleetwood were busy in the transfer market and expected to push for automatic promotion. Graham Alexander was brought in with that as his main objective, but having fallen short the playoffs remains his only option. Failure to reach League One would have to go down as a disappointing campaign.

They were in and around the automatic promotion spots all season, but they simply lacked the sort of consistency needed in finish in the top three. They ended the campaign five points adrift of third-placed Rochdale, unable to capitalise on some shaky form from the teams above them towards the latter stages of the season.

That is not to say that they didn't end the season well, however. Alexander's men were unbeaten in seven matches before coming unstuck against champions Chesterfield in the final game of the season last weekend. They had won four and drawn three in that run, however, so they were still dropping points with some regularity and unable to string a good run of victories together.

It is not hard to see what their automatic promotion challenge was based on - and why it failed. They have a formidable attacking record this season having scored 66 times in their 46 matches, a tally only the league's top three teams can beat. Indeed, it is at least 10 more than any other side in the playoffs, which will give Graham Alexander confidence that his side can out-score his rivals to reach League One.

However, he will not be so confident of his side's ability at the other end of the pitch. While 52 goals conceded in 46 games is not a terrible record compared to other teams in the league, it is significantly worse than their nearest rivals. As they have scored at least 10 goals more than their playoff rivals, they have also conceded at least 10 goals more, posting the worst record in the top eight of the table. Compared to tonight's opponents, they have conceded 11 more than York over the course of the season but scored 14 more.

Despite losing on the final day, Fleetwood remain many people's favourites to go up via the playoffs this season. They were always expected to be challenging for promotion and, while York are the form team going into it, they would already view getting this far as a success, while Fleetwood would view it almost as a disappointment. Whether that will play a factor or not remains to be seen, but it is certainly something to consider.

Away from home, they finished the campaign in mixed fashion, with two wins, two defeats and a draw from their last five games on the road. However, no team has won more matches on their travels than Fleetwood this season, while only Scunthorpe and Chesterfield have amassed more points. Alexander's side have managed 37 points from 23 games away from Highbury this season - including a victory away to York.

Oddly enough, they also have a formidable defensive record on the road, a stark contrast to their overall record. They have been beaten just 22 times in their 23 away matches, compared to conceding 30 goals in front of their own fans. That gives them the second best defensive record away from home in the league, behind only Burton Albion. However, they have also only scored 25 on the road, so their away matches tend to see fewer goals.

There has been some concern about the persistent rain falling on the pitch throughout the day, with water seeping into the dugout. However, the match is scheduled to go ahead as planned following a meeting between the referee and both managers. It won't be ideal conditions though, that is for sure.

Fleetwood boast and impressive record against York in recent times, losing just one of their last six meetings. Strangely enough, the home side has not won this fixture since their first ever meeting at Bootham Crescent in the Conference three years ago. Since then, Fleetwood have visited this ground three times and won three times.

The visitors will be looking towards Antoni Sarcevic to keep that record alive tonight. He is the team's top scorer with 14 goals and has been a constant threat all season. Indeed, he is the only player in the playoffs to have been named in the League Two Team of the Year.

Fleetwood also welcome back Conor McLaughlin into the side after the full-back passed a late fitness test to overcome a knock. He will have some unfinished business against York having scored an own goal the last time these two sides met as the Minstermen ran out 2-1 winners at Highbury.

There is only a place on the bench for Jamille Matt, however, as the striker was unable to prove hit full fitness in time for tonight's match. Like McLaughlin, he was looking to overcome a knock ahead of this one, but Alexander has opted to leave him on the bench. Matt also has history with York having scored the second goal in Fleetwood's 2-0 win here earlier in the season.

Nigel Worthington described last weekend's final-day draw with Scunthorpe as a "wake-up call" for his side, which in many ways shows just how far York have come this season. At one point of the campaign, a draw against an already-promoted side would have been a great result, but Worthington was not happy with it. Whatever happens in the playoffs, this has been a remarkable season for York, but they will want to cap it off by going all the way now.

I mentioned the adverse weather conditions tonight, well here is a shot of the dugout at the moment:

Ball crew in the home dugout going a touch of paddling before KO #codarmy pic.twitter.com/iHAtiFuN2d — Fleetwood Town FC (@ftfc) May 10, 2014

PREDICTION: Right, we're 10 minutes from kickoff at Bootham Crescent, which means that it is time for a prediction! This is quite a tough one to call as York come into the match in great form and with a formidable defensive record, while Fleetwood are strong away from home and can score goals too. Their away matches tend to be relatively low-scoring, however, and I don't think tonight will be any different. First legs are usually cagey affairs, so I'll go for a 1-0 win to the hosts.

YORK CITY STARTING XI: Pope; Oyebanjo, Davies, Lowe, McCombe, Penn, Reed, Brobbel, Coulson, Andrew, Hayhurst

YORK CITY SUBS: McGurk, Jarvis, Montrose, Platt, Bowman, Allan, Ingham

FLEETWOOD TOWN STARTING XI: Maxwell; McLaughlin, Taylor, Roberts, Pond, Schumacher, Morris, Blair, Sarcevic, Hume, Ball

FLEETWOOD TOWN SUBS: Davies, Evans, Murdoch, Parkin, Matt, Jordan, Hogan

So, it is a case of a strong defence vs. a strong attack tonight. York keeper Pope will be justifiably proud of keeping 13 clean sheets in his last 17 matches, and he will want to keep that run going tonight. Sarcevic, however, is capable of winning matches in the blink of an eye and will be a big threat to York's defence today. The hosts are missing their own top scorer Wes Fletcher through injury, and it was he who scored the winning goal in the match between these two at Highbury earlier this season - a match that incidentally kicked off York's 17-match unbeaten streak.

BREAKING NEWS: A touch of breaking news for you regarding this game - the weather has indeed had an impact and kickoff has now been pushed back to 8pm. It is still expected that we will get a game tonight, but they just need a bit more time to get the pitch sorted.

Referee Carl Boyeson has given the reason of concerns over player safety for delaying the kickoff, which does seem to cast a little bit of doubt over whether the match will go ahead at all if the rain doesn't let up. As things stand, we're still expecting the match to start at 8pm, but I will keep you updated if anything changes.

If you want a visual representation of just how bad things are at Bootham Crescent, look no further:

White lines washing away by the Cod Army dugout pic.twitter.com/YC6ucivRLV — Fleetwood Town FC (@ftfc) May 10, 2014

While we're waiting, let's have a look at what is still coming up for these two sides after tonight. The second leg takes place at Highbury on Friday, after which we will know who goes through to the Wembley on final on May 26. The winners will face either Southend or Burton Albion in the final, and the first leg of that semi-final takes place tomorrow.

Both of these teams are ultimately vying for a place in League One next season, and the playoffs in that division got underway today. Peterborough and Leyton Orient starting things off with a 1-1 draw, while Preston and Rotherham have also played out a 1-1 draw in their encounter. There was a beauty of a strike in the latter game too, worthy of any occasion.

Referee Carl Boyeson has just said that the chances of this match going ahead are "not looking good" as the rain has started falling again. He mentioned that he gave the groundsmen 40 minutes to get things sorted once the rain stopped at 7.20pm, but the rain has hurt the chances of seeing this game again.

The York chairman is still optimistic of this game going ahead, and has expressed concerns over when it would be rescheduled for should it be called off. The referee did not sound as optimistic, though, and ultimately it is down to the officials.

Speaking of the officials, they're back out for another inspection but things are not looking promising at all. I've just seen pictures of a someone trying to play a simple 10-yard pass, and it didn't reach the intended target. There is a lot of water sitting on the surface and it is hard to see how they would be able to get rid of it in time.

Referee Carl Boyeson also mentioned that he is unlikely to consider delaying the kickoff any further than 8pm, so if the pitch is not ready in time a postponement is expected rather than giving the groundsmen more time. There are just over 15 minutes left before the delayed kickoff is scheduled, but it remains to be seen whether than will go ahead as planned.

The officials confirm that the match has been postponed, and it could well be the first playoff game to be called off on the day due to adverse weather conditions. It is a huge disappointment for the fans and the players, but the referee has made the decision due to safety concerns.

The players are now doing a lap around the ground to thank the fans for coming, and they will be just as disappointed that this match is not going ahead. The middle areas of the pitch did not look too bad, but the water was not shifting from the wide areas and you can see why the decision has been made.

This raises the question as to when the match will be replayed. The second leg is due to take place on Friday so, unless that also get rescheduled, then tonight's match should eventually take place in the next few days. Hopefully the weather will let up in time and the groundsmen will be able to make the pitch playable.

There was nothing the groundsmen could do about things tonight as a sudden deluge waterlogged the pitch. They may have been able to sort things in time for an 8pm kickoff had the rain held off, but it started again soon after.

So, we wait until tomorrow for the League Two playoffs to get underway with Burton and Southend going head to head. As for this match, the two teams are meeting as we speak to decide upon a date for the rescheduled meeting, with Monday or Tuesday looking the most likely right now.

You can join Sports Mole for every single one of the playoff ties in all the divisions this season. Tomorrow sees the League Two playoffs get underway, while the second leg of the Championship semi-final between Derby and Brighton will also take place in the evening. There is also the small matter of the final day of the Premier League tomorrow as a fascinating title race reaches its conclusion, and once more we have every single game covered.

Right, that is all we have time for this evening then! Thank you for joining Sports Mole for coverage of what was scheduled to be the first leg of the League Two playoff semi-final between York City and Fleetwood Town. Unfortunately we weren't able to bring you any action as the match was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch, but be sure to check back in for plenty more live football tomorrow. Until then, though, it is goodbye from me!