Harrogate Railway Athletic 1 - 2 Mossley

Or to be more exact:

Curzon Ashton 1 - 1 Lancaster City

Last season it took Mossley until their final away game of the season to register their first win in matches played on the eastern side of the Pennines. This year they've done it on their first attempt.

The only other point the Lilywhites picked up on their travels over t'moors was at Harrogate Railway Athletic; a side who took a further six off us on top of that one, making them our joint top bogey side in the league last season. Their hopes of retaining that title for another year however took a severe denting after Mossley won their first ever game at the Athletic's Station View ground.

Anyone wanting more information on the game other than we won 2 - 1 with a goal in injury time, are advised to look here as I wasn't at the game to see Mossley make it three wins out of four.

Instead I was at the Tameside Stadium to witness Curzon Ashton's first home game of the current campaign.

Curzon probably just about shaded the first half though we're talking in margins only measurable by a micrometer here. Lancaster took the lead early in the second half and would have been heading home with a win had it not been for their inability to kill the game off despite being given numerous opportunities to do so and a fluke equaliser from the home side with nine minutes left. The strong wind that blows across the Moss claiming another assist in carrying a hopeful cross over a goalkeeper and into the net.

I would go into more detail but the game was so poor that no finer points actually exist. Unlike the video I posted for Mossley's game against Warrington in which I had to make some tough decisions as to what to leave out, the highlights reel for this game contains every single thing of note that happened.

Like all football fans I'm no stranger to occasional exaggeration but I can honestly say with a level head and a hand on heart that this Curzon side currently looks a shadow of the one from the past few seasons. Curzon fans will of course point out that the enforced absence through suspension of Michael Norton has done them no favours but the results and performances without him does little to counter many peoples claims that they're a one man team.


The few points of interest in the game were provided by the City fans, the first being that Lancaster fans have found room in a song of teams they hate for Stalybridge Celtic. The second is that they really, really don't like Simon Clifford; 'hate' is not a strong enough term to describe some of the chants about him. Thirdly, "S-H-R I-M-P, Sammy McIlroy's got VD," while probably not being factually correct, is decidedly catchy. The chant that is, not the STD.

No matter what the standard of the game was though the final result was a good one for Mossley, allowing the Lilywhites to put some distance between themselves and two sides who at the start the season were expected to finish above us.

How long will the good form continue? I've no idea but like everyone else who has sat and stood through the last two long, long years of watching Mossley, I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts.

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