We all know that these types of fixtures are predominantly for fitness purposes so it seems churlish to complain about the quality of the game but this wasn't a particularly good ninety minutes of football. One in which only a few players shone and others will be hoping for another chance.
The lack of people watching the game won't have helped the clubs finances either, at least not in the short term. However it could reap dividends in the future because if a host of new potential spectators had turned up to watch this game they'd probably never be back.
With five minutes to go to kick-off there were considerably more people on the pitch then there were on the terraces. Thankfully the time the match actually started spectators just about outnumbered those running about on the grass.
I'm not going to complain though about people stopping away from this game. In fact I can understand why so many did. I mean, it's only a weird sense of loyalty, there being nothing good on TV on Tuesday evenings and the fact I don't have a life that got me up to Seel Park for this fixture.
Hopefully some of the people who could have attended weren't sat at home, waiting to watch it on their PC's as this website said they'd be able to do.
Before the match there was a minutes silence for the local man who'd just lost his life because he was a member of the Army in Afghanistan. Whether you agree with the war or not, the very least you can do is give a minute of your own life to stand in silence in remembrance of somebody who lost theirs in a tragic way.
That's what I thought anyway. Unfortunately two Flixton players couldn't bring themsleves to stand still for 60 seconds and spent that time continuing to go through their stretching exercises and jogging on the spot. Well done to the pair of them for complete lack of respect.
That the match itself never actually caught fire which wasn't unsurprising considering the amount of rain that fell prior to the match and during the first half. What is it with the start of the football season that causes the weather to change from warm and sunny to the kind which makes you think evolution is going to give fans gills within a few generations.
Mossley dominated the game from start to finish but, and stop me if you've heard this one before, they couldn't turn the significant amounts of possession into shots on goal. If anything it was the visitors who should have taken the lead midway through the opening half when their otherwise impressive left winger missed a free header in front of an open goal.
As the opening half neared it's conclusion Danny Dignan finally put Mossley ahead by calmly placing Danny Egan's headed flick on past the Flixton keeper. The visiting goalie then gifted Mossley their second moments later by throwing the ball straight to the feet of Egan who hit it straight into from 25 yards.
The second half followed a similar pattern to the first with chances few and far between, the only difference being that this time it was Flixton who found the net. And I think that they were just as surprised as us! They did so only once though, allowing the Lilywhites to register their second pre-season win.
Hopefully the presence of better opponents at Hurst Cross will see Mossley lift their game a bit for the next fixture this Saturday. If it doesn't and it's more of the same, I'm going to do something I said I'd never ever do on Tuesday and stop in and watch Holby City instead of a game at Seel Park. At least then I can be bored senseless in my slippers.
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