Duck pitch invader brings Fleetwood clash to a halt

Fleetwood Town's match with Bolton Wanderers was bizarrely brought to a halt on Tuesday by a pitch invader.

But it was an invader of the feathery kind!

In torrential conditions in Lancashire, a duck somehow found itself as the centre of attention in the League One clash as it waddled onto the pitch at Highbury Stadium.

The incident, which occurred just before half-time, brought the game to a halt as Bolton were preparing to take a throw-in.

Thankfully, a Fleetwood ground staff member collected the invader and safely escorted it away, with the advertising hoardings moved for the duck to exit.

What's the strangest reason you've seen a game halted for? Let us know in the comments section

Fleetwood tweeted: "45+2' Play stops as there is a pitch invader. It's only a duck and won't be getting banned, though. It's carefully removed by one of the ground staff and play continues."

Plenty saw the funny side and social media was awash with clever comments.

Specsavers even joined in the fun and wrote: "Wonder if the fine for entering the pitch will be added to its bill."

It is not the first duck-related incident in League One this season, however. Back in August, Wigan Athletic held a minutes applause at half-time in their game against Portsmouth for a duck who had died.

The duck - named Keith - belonged to a supporter of the Latics.

An image of the aquatic bird was shown on the big screen at the interval as 9,571 fans remembered his life.

Keith's death was reportedly posted in a club Facebook group, which caused confusion with many issuing condolences to a fan, before realising it was relating to a pet duck.

The strange incident at Fleetwood wasn't the only stoppage in play on a rain-lashed night.

There was also a malfunction with the stadium's floodlights whilst a damaged scoreboard also meant play was halted.

Thankfully for the hosts though, it didn't deter them from putting in a much-needed performance.

The Cod Army, who are managerless after dispensing with the services of former boss Simon Grayson, ran out 3-0 winners against their local rivals.

Ged Garner's early opener settled the nerves for Fleetwood, who entered the game on a rotten run of 11 games without a win.

The hosts then upped the ante in the final quarter of the game and were helped when Bolton skipper Ricardo Santos was shown a red card for bringing down Callum Morton.

Harrison Biggins then fired in a quickfire brace to seal the points for a resurgent Fleetwood. It followed a goal in Saturday's defeat to Accrington Stanley.

Biggins is the son of former Stoke, Norwich and Manchester City striker Wayne. And his onlooking dad clearly got swept up in the emotion of his son's brace.

Alan McInally was relaying the action from Highbury to the studio for Sky Sports News' Soccer Special. And he invited a jubilant Biggins senior on-screen in the aftermath of Harrison's first goal.