Radcliffe Borough 1 - 3 Mossley

Who'd have thought that turning north off juntion 17 of the M62 would take you to the Outer Limits? A place where kids stand in the middle of the road gormlessly throwing sticks in the air and incomprehensibly shouting at cars trying to pass them; where in the middle of September there's a house completely decked out with Christmas decorations including inflatable Santas in the front garden; and, more imporatantly, a place where Mossley actually manage to win!

Yes, set the church bells a-ringning and begin the street parties for Mossley have claimed three points for the first time in almost a month. Not only that but it was a deserved victory to boot!

(Okay. I admit that the above isn't the best introdution I've ever written but I'm sure you'll agree that it's far better than the 'All Wright and the Knight' style play on words I was originally toying around with.)

For the first time in many a moon Mossley took the game to their opponents straight from the kick-off and were rewarded with something that's only happened once before this season - a first half goal. A back heel flick from Anthony Bingham set Joe Shaw on his way to the touchline and his cross from the right was turned in at the near post by Peter Wright; the ex-Chorley man getting in front of his marker to score his first for the club. There were suspicions of offside in the build-up to the goal but there's no denying that intricateness of the move was worthy of putting the visitors one up.

However old habits die hard and after the restart Mossley began to drop deeper and deeper, giving Radcliffe the opportunity to get a foothold in the game. Chris Downey saw one effort curl the wrong side of the post before Kearney, with 15 minutes on the clock, got on the end of one the best crosses I've seen this season to head Boro' level. The remainder of the first period saw Radcliffe look the team most likely to score again but the closest they came was when a break down the right saw a shot bounce back off the foot of the post.

The opening twenty minutes of the second half was a relatively drab affair with little to speak of in the way of goalmouth incidents. Bingham forced the Radcliffe keeper into palming one effort off for a corner but most of the action was confined to the visitors half swapping possession in the middle of the pitch.

Suddenly, and almost if somebody had pressed a button marked 'Win the game', Mossley started to step up through the gears. Keeping the ball on the ground they started to open up the Radcliffe back line with one touch passing and some intelligent off-the-ball runs. Wright and Bingham were causing all sorts of problems and they both combined to set up Joe Shaw, who saw his shot blocked and defelected behind.

It was Shaw himself who took the resultant corner and his inch perfect cross saw Melford Knight beat the keeper to the ball and head Mossley in front. The Lilywhite's now had their tails up but, for all their attacking play, they just couldn't apply the finishing touch that would almost certainly kill off the game.

Melford Knight puts Mossley back in front (trust me, that's him and the ball behind the view obscuring crossbar. And I think the Radcliffe number 7 is waiting for a bus.)

At the other end of the pitch Radcliffe were focusing all their play down Mossley's, worryingly spacious, left hand side. Whereas a better side would have punished us for leaving this path to goal virtually unprotected, Radcliffe continually wasted good opportunities with some terrible crosses and, for a team chasing the game, an unwillingness to send men forward.

Goal number three for Mossley as Peter Wright sends his spot kick straight down the middle

With ten minutes to go though Peter Wright wrapped up the three points by grabbing his second of the night from the penalty spot. The architect of the move leading to this point was substitute Steve Burke; the former Bury man's willingness to chase a lost cause panicked the Radcliffe defence into creating a series of errors, culminating in Christian Cooke being felled by a rash challenge in the corner of the box as he tried to pick up a loose ball..


It was at this point that the terrace full of celebrating Mossley supporters was overcome with a stench straight from the depths of hell. Somewhere, many miles beneath our feet, Satan was leaving the bathroom and telling Adolf Hitler that he'd "give it five minutes" if he were him. I'm not joking - it was vile! But it couldn't dampen the spirits of the large section of travelling fans high on an impending victory and Midget Gems.

There's no denying the importance of this victory. Whilst not being a brilliant performance (a better team would certainly have punished our laxness in certain areas of the pitch) it was certainly a lot, lot better than what was witnessed against Guiseley last Saturday. One good win does not a turnaround make but at least it's a step in the right direction and something to build on as the nights start to draw in.

Peter Wright watches a late effort fly over the bar

There's an extra credit for the players too for coming across to applaud the supporters at the end of the game. It's the small things like this that are really appreciated by the fans so thank you.

Now it's off to Gothland where I'm sure we'll have nothing to fear if we continue to show the same endeavour and spirit and tighten up on a couple of things.