Defeat this time though came not at the hands of Bamber Bridge, or within the familiar confines of Seel Park, but across the Pennines in that strange land known as Yorkshire. Wakefield to be more exact: the home of a maximum security prison, a sizeable proportion of Britain's rhubarb supply and Wakefield F.C..
Things didn't start well for the Lilywhites with the visitors shipping three goals within the opening 30 minutes and while there was an improvement in the hour of the match that was left, it wasn't enough to rescue the game. It wasn't only the game Mossley lost either as defender Aaron Chalmers picked up an injury serious enough to necessitate a trip to the nearby hospital (a journey a Wakefield player had made not much earlier) and one which could see him miss a sizeable chunk of what's left of the season.
If I'd gone to College Grove I'd have been able to offer a few more details of what happened during the game (and should you want those blanks filled then I suggest going here or here) but I was a lot closer to home watching one Mossley side end the night as winners.
Mossley Reserves 2 - 0 AFC Fylde Reserves
And a thoroughly deserved victory it was too for the second string/youth team... when it belatedly got under way.
Why belatedly? Well see if you can spot the reason for yourself with the following picture that was taken at the scheduled kick-off time:
That's right - it's another chapter in the ongoing saga of Mossley's floodlights.
Following what seemed to be a bit of trouble getting them working during the first half of the Harrogate game a few days earlier, it took a good while longer to get all the floodlights up and running for this one.
Both sides did their warm-up under three lights and then two before a complete descent into darkness mere minutes before the match was due to start. 7:45pm came and went before there was a brief flicker and part of the pitch became illuminated...
...and be followed a short while later by the lights on the opposite side of the pitch finally stirring into action. By the time all six had got up to full beam it was 8 o'clock and the game could finally get started.
The visitors were the more impressive team during the initial exchanges - a couple of shots from distance flying narrowly wide of the Lilywhites goal - but the moment Mossley got to grips with game the home side never once looked like losing. In fact the only surprising thing on the night was that it took them until the 10th minutes of the second half to finally find the back of the net.
It was a goal worth waiting for though. Jordan Cuff cut in from the right wing and from 25 yards out let fly with an angled shot that looped over the goalkeeper dipped just under the crossbar; one of those rare efforts that you knew was going in the second it left his boot.
The result sealing second goal arrived quarter of an hour later and courtesy of the clubs England Schools Under 18 squad member, Fabio Abreu. Compared to the opening strike this one was merely a tap in but the move building up to it was impressive enough in itself.
There should have been more goals as Fylde slowly fell apart but there won't be too many amongst the smattering of people in attendance who'll be disappointed with what they saw. Actually I haven't seen many games with better, flowing football than this one at Seel Park this year and, considering it was free to watch, with a better value/money ratio too.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment