Mossley's new era got off to a disappointing start on the outskirts of rain sodden Leeds but the eventual result was overshadowed by an horrific injury sustained by Lilywhite's right back, Mike Jefferson.
Three minutes before the interval the former Ashton United defender came out of a challenge second best as he attempted to thwart a Garforth attack, leaving him lying on the pitch with a suspected broken leg; the wait for an ambulance necessitating a lengthy stoppage of almost an hour to the game.
There is a question as to whether the match should have been abandoned there and then (if it was the floodlights that had held up the match for a similar period of time it almost certainly would have been) but as the majority of other fixtures up and down the country drew to a close, the game restarted and quickly devolved into something of a farce.
Despite their being three minutes of the half left before the unfortunate stoppage (as well as a considerable amount of time to be added on for treatment Paul Garvey had received earlier in the match following an awful tackle deemed only worthy of a yellow), the referee announced that they'd play only two minutes before starting the second period. The majority of these two minutes were then unbelievably taken up with Town making a substitution, for which no extra time was added, before the half was brought to a close.
By this point though Mossley were already a goal in arrears.
Things had started brightly for the visitors but apart from a few efforts from distance the Miner's nervous looking keeper Karl Spratt remained sadly under worked. On the quarter of an hour mark the home side suddenly clicked and Mossley were put on the back-foot. Ashley Connor diverted a shot destined for the bottom corner of the goal off for a corner and David Wallace cleared off the line as the pressure increased on Mossley's back line.
That pressure eventually paid off in the 35th minute when a soft penalty was conceded and Duncan Williams put the home side ahead from the spot.
The second half was a pretty even affair in terms of possession but like the early spell in the previous half, Mossley's inability to convert it into chances was to prove to be their undoing. A few shots brushed wide of the post and Mossley's height at corners caused a few problems but in truth there was nothing that really tested Spratt.
It was the home side that continued to look the most likely to score and Ashley Connor produced a fine full length save to stop Garforth from doubling their lead. Double it they did though in the 82nd minute when a long ball from the back coupled with Garforth's speedy forward line allowed Muddell to head home from close range and virtually seal the game.
To Mossley's enormous credit though that their heads didn't drop and as the clock ticked over into the 90th minute they were rewarded with a deserved consolation. A cross from the left found its way to the yellow booted feet of substitute Joel Bryce and he curled a perfectly executed shot around a motionless Spratt to halve the deficit.
Last season began with a one goal defeat in similar conditions (i.e. new league, the kind of weather that would have had Noah rounding up the animals) to Ilkeston but this time around the signs are more encouraging. Whilst the positives may have been balanced out by the negatives, which is to be expected from a team playing their first competitive match together, there was enough evidence on display to suggest that this season won't follow the last into the annals of Mossley's 'Campaign's Best Forgotten'.
As for Garforth, for a club whose mantra is Brazilian football, their style of play bore little resemblance to any I've ever seen from the South American side.
When they make their two visits to Seel Park later in the season it might be wise to warn residents in Micklehurst of the dangers of being hit by a Garforth clearance. Watching players trying to kick the ball as far as they could out of the ground at every possible opportunity was one of the most ridiculous things I've seen at a football game in quite some time. Along with their constant appealing for fouls and offsides and their 'hands-on' approach to challenging anyone for the ball they're not going to win many friends. In fact you can't help but feel they're getting Brazil mixed up with Wimbledon circa the late 80's. Somebody really should tell them that Dennis Wise was not the embodiment of samba football.
They should also tell them to print more programmes, open the refreshment a lot earlier, erect some kind of construction that is able to keep spectators dry. And given the struggle one ambulance had getting near the ground, heaven help everyone should their ever be a fire at the place. Oh yes, whilst I've got the bit between my teeth, banging one snare drum slowly only adds to the atmosphere if you're watching a French aristo being led to the guillotine and not when your forwards are chasing a hoof down the pitch.
And finally, after a couple of years in which the standard of officiating has improved quite considerably, hopefully the performances seen in this by the men in black aren't indicative of what's to come this season. From the awarding of corners and goal kicks that had no relation to on-field events to the refusal to clamp down on the home side's rough house tactics and the events surrounding Jefferson's injury,it wasn't a good day for the man in the middle and his two helpers.
The nadir of which (and it had some competition) was reached when Town substitute Simpkins, moments after receiving a yellow card for a tackle so late its obituary had already been printed in the local paper, kicked the ball out of the ground in a ridiculous act of time-wasting after being flagged offside. Instead of the expected red card all he received was the briefest of tut-tuttings. The officials weren't to blame for the result but they certainly didn't help either.
Anyhow, one down - forty one (plus cup matches) to go and as I would have said had we won – one result does not a season make. Besides, they all won't be played in what has turned out to be an extremely unlucky kit.
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