Mossley 3 - 1 Trafford

Contrary to popular opinion, revenge isn't sweet.

It's a feeling that's incredibly hollow and has a very bitter after taste but that doesn't mean it's not thoroughly enjoyable, as this victory over Trafford will attest to.

A mere seven days after being dumped out of the Unibond President’s Cup by the south Manchester side, Mossley gained a modest amount of payback for that controversial exit at Shawe View by using up a season and a half's worth of luck in at a wet and windy Seel Park.

Actually wet and windy doesn’t even begin to describe the atrocious conditions the match was played under.

After seven days of relatively nice weather, the prospect of a match taking place on a dry Seel Park angered the rain gods and for two hours before kick-off it was as if the ground had been relocated to the foot of Horseshoe Falls at Niagara.

A series of heavy and prolonged downpours that had begun falling in the build-up to kick-off had grown into one non-stop torrent by the time the match finally got under way. Coupled with a driving wind blowing the length of the pitch, it was testament to both sets of players that they were actually able to remain upright on the increasingly slippery surface, let alone attempt to play football when proceedings started.

The consequence of both teams having to expend their energies on battling the elements as well as each other meant that the game passed slowly without incident until it unexpectedly burst into life in the 24th minute. How unexpectedly? Well those of us under the Bus Shelter had already resigned ourselves to watching a goal free game.

During an all too brief lull in the weather, Trafford became the first side to string together a series of passes and in doing so they opened the Mossley defence, presenting Scott Barlow with the opportunity to put his side in front from very close range.

If luck had been notable for its absence in their meeting with Trafford a week earlier, it certainly came to the Lilywhites assistance in this game. Their first stroke of good fortune came nine minutes after the visitors had taken the lead when Clive Moyo-Modise's 20 yard shot took a deflection off the outstretched leg of a defender and beyond the reach of keeper Tom Read to draw Mossley level.

It got even better for the home side four minutes before the interval when another ricochet ensured that they'd begin the second half holding the advantage. This time it was Daryl Weston who benefited from his shot being deviated from its initial path by an attempted block – the ball looping high over an exasperated looking Read and into the net.

If it hadn't been for Read's alertness the half-time oranges would have tasted even better for the Lilywhites as it was only the Trafford keepers reactions that stopped Danny Dignan adding a third to the home sides total.

Unsurprisingly given that they were now playing into a wind that had picked up even more strength during the break, Mossley spent most of the second period desperately trying to break out of their own half. On the positive side however, the mass bank of white shirts facing the visitors made it incredibly tough for Trafford to get a sighting of James Mann's goal

On the few occasions they did find a chink in the armour though, luck came to the Lilywhites aid once again. Shaun Whitehead saw not one but two shots that looked certain goals crash off the cross bar and to safety, while substitute Chris Mackay could only watch in disbelief as his net bound free-kick late in the match deflected off the back of Mattie Kay and onto the upright.

As Trafford piled men forward in search of an equaliser they became increasingly susceptible a breakaway goal and that's precisely what happened a minute into injury time; Alex Mortimer and Dave Brooke combining to present Chris Hirst with ball on the edge of the visitors box, from where the loanee from Macclesfield Town struck a low shot that bounced under Read and into the bottom corner of the net.

It might not have been the prettiest of victories, or the greatest of games, but that doesn't make the win any less welcome - especially as it ends a run of five games without a win.

All credit to the players from both sides too for managing to put in some decent performances in despite the awful conditions and provide some entertainment – far more than we had any right to expect.

Even though we're only a few days off the end of March we've, amazingly, still got one quarter of the league programme left to play and this result will hopefully be one that puts us in good stead for those final ten games. With thirty points still left to play for, who knows what might happen between now and that final game at Rossendale. Reaching the play-offs may seem highly unlikely but stranger things have happened. I mean, who'd have thought Seel Park would ever have a television gantry?

And if the luck we had in this match continues I wouldn't rule out the league title just yet! Okay, that may be going a bit too far.

A final word about the attendance though – 99. Yes 99, and that included the three incredibly humourless people who made the incredibly long trek from, er... the other side of Manchester. Where the hell was everyone else?