Just when their win less run was beginning to resemble Tony Curtis's arm in 'The Vikings' after he gets his hand chopped off (in that it was getting longer every time you looked at it*), Mossley finally claimed their first three point haul of 2008 with a hard fought, but ultimately deserved, victory over a Chorley side that had beaten them rather too convincingly just a month earlier.
As has often been the case during that ten game win less streak that stretches back to the last week of December, Mossley began the brighter of two sides on display with Martin Allison, David Boardman and Danny Ryan all going close to putting the hosts ahead in the opening ten minutes.
The latter in particular was having an impressive start to his debut in a Lilywhites shirt and it was from one of the numerous crosses he fired in from the left wing that Mossley opened the scoring; Michael Fish diving full length to head the ball past Magpies keeper Peter Collinge in the 11th minute.
A flying Fish puts Mossley ahead:
It was lead that was to last barely a minute though before as Magpies drew level with their first shot real in anger of the game, and it was a former Mossley player that did the damage. Centre forward Steve Burke letting fly with a venomous shot from the edge of the box that took the slightest of deflections off Lee Connor before hitting the back of the net.
The midway point of the half saw David Boardman restore Mossley's lead with a smart turn and shot from the edge of the box after a quickly taken throw-in appeared to catch Chorley's defence half-asleep.
All three goals scored up to this point had been pretty impressive but they were surpassed on the stroke of half-time. From a full 30 yards out, Martin Allison struck an inch perfect free-kick that not only had Collinge flying across his goal line in a forlorn attempt to stop it from dropping into the net, but gave Mossley a two goal cushion that they richly deserved going in to the interval.
And thanks to the wonders of relatively modern technology, you can now relive Allison's long, long range strike. It's also worth watching for a marvellous piece of commentary around the 22 second mark. At least it is if bad language doesn't offend:
While the weather hadn't exactly been 'clement' in the opening half of the game, it was certainly preferable to the conditions both sides found themselves playing in at the start of the second period. The strong wind that had been blowing across Seel Park was now joined by torrential rain and as water swept across the rapidly deteriorating surface, both sides, unsurprisingly struggled to produce anything other than the occasional half chance.
That remained the case until the 70th minute when, with the deluge beginning to ease off (if only slightly), Mark Drew halved Chorley's deficit with a 25 yard free-kick; practically his first touch since coming on as a substitute.
After having been in control for so long Mossley began to wobble slightly as the Magpies started to throw more men into attack in search of an equaliser. Ashley Connor was called on to make a superb point blank stop from Burke and the Chorley striker had his embarrassment spared by an offside flag after poking the ball wide of a virtually open goal.
Two minutes from time the outcome of the game was put beyond any shadow of doubt when Martin Allison stroked home his second and Mossley's fourth goal of the afternoon from the penalty spot. The kick awarded after man-of-the-match David Boardman had been felled by Collinge as he attempted to take the ball around him.
Or, alternatively, you can watch both in real time here:
Well, what can you say when "well played" and “well done” isn't enough?
This was a stirring performance from the men in white (and dirty grey and brown by the end of the match) shirts and a world away from the one witnessed by the 'unlucky few' against Bridlington four days earlier.
Not only did heads not go down after Chorley had pulled the game back immediately after we'd scored but we continued to battle and battle hard without picking up silly bookings.
Of course, we weren't playing a top of the table side but Chorley are certainly no mugs under their new manager Tony Hesketh and anybody who plays them is certainly going to have to work hard for the points. Which is precisely what Mossley did. In fact both teams deserve plenty of credit for producing a game that never failed to hold the attention, especially given the atrocious conditions the match was played under.
It might have been a victory that was long time in coming but with more performances like this one, it certainly won't be another eleven games before Mossley are celebrating claiming another three points again.
* Despite it being a very good film, it is worth watching just to see Tony Curtis's characters stump grow bigger the longer the film goes on. In the climactic fight scene his handless arm is almost half as long as the one with fingers on the end.
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