Ossett Albion 3 - 0 Mossley

You didn't have to be a half-competent statistician to have worked out that the likelihood of this match reaching the same heights as the previous one between the two sides, a mere three days earlier, was going to be slim.

While lightning does tend to strike twice in nature, it doesn't tend to in football and so it proved as the Yorkshire side gained swift revenge for their defeat at Seel Park last Saturday.

That's not to say it couldn't have matched the previous weekends goal bonanza. In fact it almost certainly would have done had Mossley managed to convert just a handful of the seemingly never ending series of chances they created in the first half. To say that the Lilywhites were the better side by considerable some distance would be giving Ossett far too much credit for their contribution to proceedings.

From the very first minute to the forty fifth, Mossley looked dangerous every time the ball entered Albion's half of the pitch. Unfortunately however their inability to apply the finishing touches to some, at times excellent, sweeping moves across the park meant that Ossett's keeper, Lee Ashforth, spent more time sighing with relief than having to catch his breath through being over exerted.

The prickliest thorn in Ossett's side was Chris Hirst who was the architect of the majority of Mossley's best chances, but along with Danny Toronczak, Lee Blackshaw and many, many others on the night, he was also guilty of failing to put away chances that ought to have finished the game as a contest by the break.

And I'm not talking about just one or two good chances – it was more like eight or nine and it's a total that would be well into double figures if you lumped in the half chances and penalty appeals too.

Even so, for all their good play, and as if to prove how cruel football can be at times, it was Mossley that went in at the interval a goal behind. A mistimed interception on the halfway line in the 18th minute had given Gareth Hamlet the opportunity to run unchallenged towards Andy Robertson's goal and fire his side into the lead; Ossett's solitary shot of the half.

Sadly the Mossley side that left the pitch unlucky to be losing at the interval didn't reappear for the second half. Everything good about their play in the opening period wasn't in evidence after the restart and the game slowly began to drift away from them; ultimately disappearing when Riordan prodded in from close range after the visitors marking had gone awry at a free-kick

There was a “what if?” moment with twenty minutes to go when Lee Blackshaw's one-on-one with the goalkeeper was cut short by a unique interpretation of the offside law by the linesman. Had the Lilywhites winger been allowed to carry on and net his third goal in three games it might well have laid the foundations for an unlikely comeback.

Hypothetical situations don't win games though – goals do and Ossett's third on the night from Thornton (and another ode to the perils of slack marking) ensured that they'd be collecting the three points on offer and with them, bringing to an end the six game unbeaten run of Mossley.

The strange thing is that despite fielding a near identical side, Albion were much worse than they had been at the weekend. The only visible difference about them was the adoption of an 'if it moves, kick it policy' which does them no credit at all. But then when the man in the middle is prepared to turn a blind eye to some less than fair play (surely he couldn't not have seen what was going on at times off the ball) I suppose it follows that you'll try to use it your advantage.

As I keep saying on here, almost mantra like, officials come in for some undue flack at times and are an easy scapegoat to blame a teams failings on. Since Christmas though we haven't half had some right stinkers taking charge of our matches.

First and foremost let me say that the men in black didn't cost us this game but they might at least have made things a bit easier for us had they clamped down on Albion's ridiculously over physical, and highly dangerous, approach to the game. Some of the challenges were appalling yet the senior official only appeared to give things if it was accompanied by a scream, something Ossett proved extremely adept at as every missed tackle was followed by a player falling to the floor in mock agony; the type of poor gamesmanship we're unfortunately going to have to face again on Thursday at Skelmersdale.

Not only that but the interpretation of the rules was bizarre. I've already mentioned the “nowhere near” offside decision but also worthy of being noted for posterity are such gems as: Chris Hirst being forced to leave the pitch after being fouled despite not having received any treatment whatsoever; the game being held up for over a minute while Ossett's captain was allowed to tie his bootlace; decisions being given that the officials plainly couldn't see unless evolution had given them eyes in the back of their head; and, like the unnamed songs on an advert for a K-Tel music compilation, there are many, many more.

As I said though this shouldn't deflect from the fact that this was a game Mossley should have won and it's through there own failings that they didn't. Maybe the run of games is catching up. Maybe the rotation system used was one rotation too many. Maybe a few more shots actually on target wouldn't go amiss. Or maybe we just can't play well in depressing surroundings and there's nothing grimmer than Ossett by moonlight. Except maybe Warrington at night and Chorley at any time of the day and year.

Whatever it was, as all reports are contractually obliged to state after matches like this one, we'll play a damn sight worse this season and end up with three points.

It's a result though that while not ending our play-off ambitions, is at the very least a spanner in the works in the attempt to get there. It's almost certain now that the results of the next two games will determine as to whether or not the cups will be the sole focus for us in the last seven to eight weeks of the season. And so what if that turns out to be the case - it's still more than what many of us were expecting to achieve when we embarked on this journey seven months ago.

So no happy endings to our double header with Albion then. We didn't even come close to winning the 'side of meat' (?) available as top prize in the raffle. And there wasn't much to laugh about either unless you espied the surprising number of Mossley supporters who had to touch Ossett's mini-tractor and roller after being drawn Siren like towards it.

Still, what does it matter when there's a trip to glamorous Skelmersdale on the horizon and the fun and games that ninety minutes against a Tommy Lawson side entail? I'm going to start the 'poor gamesmanship' and 'unsporting behaviour' paragraph for the next report now to save a bit of time...