Woodley Sports 1 - 4 Mossley

Now with small, slightly blurred photos in the form of slideshow.

After hitting what was arguably the lowest point of the season with a defeat at home to bottom of the table Salford, the prospects of Mossley picking up anything against a team second in the league and then a bogey side over the course of the next seven days weren't particularly high.

However, and as if to prove the cliché about a week being a long time in football true, the Lilywhites followed up an impressive performance in their midweek victory over high flying Bamber Bridge with a display of equal calibre to claim a comprehensive win at Lambeth Grove, the home of Stockport side Woodley Sports.

It was a win that was effectively decided within the space of five first half minutes as well. A period during which Mossley found the back of of goalkeeper Ben Connett's net on no less than three occasions.

There was little Connett could do though but stand and watch as Danny Self got the blitz under way in spectacular fashion in the 17th minute. Twenty yards out and stood almost with his back to goal, Self acrobatically span and looped a loose ball past the stranded keeper and into the top corner of the net.

Self was also instrumental in Mossley's second goal. Picking up Danny Egan's intelligent through ball, the former Maine Roadplayer burst into the box only to be felled by one, or possibly both, of the Woodley players who'd converged on him. The referee showed no hesitation signalling a penalty and after a short delay while remonstrations were waved away, Egan calmly sent Connett the wrong way from the spot to register his ninth goal of the campaign.

Less than sixty seconds later the third goal arrived and contained elements from opposite ends of the football quality spectrum. The ridiculous, a woefully misjudged thirty five back pass by Adam Morning, gave way to the sublime as Danny Dignan brought the intercepted ball under control with his first touch and with his second, lifted it superbly over the onrushing Connett.

It was forehead slapping stuff from the officials too. Well, at least one of them. Even though it was a Woodley player (at the time of writing) who kicked the ball to Dignan while he made his way back up the pitch from a previous attack, the linesman stuck his flag up for offside. Thankfully the referee knew the correct laws of the game and, after allowing play to continue, explained them to his assistant as both teams lined up for the restart.

The home side managed to make it to the interval without suffering further embarrassment but they should have also gone in at the break with one goal to their credit. That they didn't though was down to Gavin Salmon replicating the form he showed in his brief stint at Seel Park by somehow conspiring to head wide of an open goal in injury time.

Not unexpectedly, Woodley's approach to the second half was to throw everything but the kitchen sink at the Lilywhites in attempt to rescue the game. They barely scratched the visitors back line though, let alone make a significant dent, as Mossley's resolute defending confined them exclusively to trying their luck with speculative shots from a distance that was never going to cause keeper, and captain for the day, Andy Robertson any problems.

If anything it was still Mossley who always looked the more likely to be the next team to score and that they didn't was down to a combination of some very near misses and a few eyebrow raising offside decisions. In fact the assistant referees flag was proving to be Woodley's best defender as their back four, along with the linesman, continually struggled to deal with the pace and movement of Dignan and Egan.

They got no respite either when the two Danny's were eventually replaced by Matty Berkley and Michael Fish late on in the game, and both combined set up the fourth goal for Mossley's first substitution of the afternoon, Lee Blackshaw; the winger stroking the into an unguarded net from the edge of the six yard box.

Hopes of a second consecutive clean sheet for the Lilywhites looked to have been guaranteed when Robertson pulled off a fantastic save to deny Jarrett, but they where quashed when Daniel Queeley scored from the penalty spot with what turned out to be the penultimate kick of the game.

Any lustre it took off Mossley's performance though would only be noticeable if you were to look at it a sub-atomic level because after a display like this one, it takes more than a late consolation goal to dampen the optimism the preceding ninety plus minutes.

To put it simply Mossley were Apoidea’s ginglymus joint.

They just picked up from where they left off at the QED Stadium four days earlier and ran Woodley ragged.

Once again the two Danny’s were an ever present threat upfront and the first line of defence, Weston and Kelly were dominant in midfield, Self and Hirst ran their socks off and the back four (plus one even further back) looked unflustered. Even the one change forced upon us through Graham Kay’s suspension failed to knock the defence from their stride as Kristian Bowden slotted into the centre half position and looked like he'd been playing their all season.

All backed up by one of the subs line-up we’ve had in years, meaning that we now have a team/squad where you have to fight for a place and the players are responding to it in the best way possible.

The only upcoming problem I can foresee is that Woodley are our next opponents as well in the return fixture at Seel Park.

Whilst it's nice that the manner of their complete and utter defeat will still be fresh in their memories, it would have been even better if a longer period of time had been allowed to pass so that the petty grudges built up through flailing arms and late tackles had time to fade away, instead of being put off for a week.

Not just for the possible state of our players health at 16:45 on Saturday but their goalkeepers too. At least his mental state that is because after his 'spat' with Mossley supporters towards the end of this game, it could turn out to be an aurally unpleasant afternoon for him.

That’s for another day though and for the time being it’s best to just concentrate on this one. One which sees us sitting outside the play-offs on goal difference and just six points behind the leaders, only a week after we were in mid-table and heading in a downwards direction because of our fourth defeat on the bounce.

Football. Unfathomable isn’t it?

Bamber Bridge 0 - 2 Mossley

Unfortunately time constraints mean that this is going to be a relatively short report compared to what usually appears on here. It's a damn nuisance too because this game, or rather Mossley's performance in it, is one I could spend hours enthusing about.

Without a point from the four games played in the first half of the month, November was rapidly in danger of becoming the period on the calendar which marked Mossley's transformation from a top of the table side into one of the also rans in the lower reaches of the league.

At least that was the case until two unanswered goals at Bamber Bridge's QED Stadium ensured that the Lilywhites not only returned to winning ways but put the brakes on their slide down the Unibond First Division as well.

And while a 2 – 0 scoreline registered against a side sitting second in the league is impressive in itself, it's one that doesn't come close to accurately reflecting the gap that existed between the two teams on the pitch. I say gap, it was more like a gulf at times.

The first goal came towards the end of an opening period that, a tentative start aside, Mossley dominated. The abundance of pace in their forward line and the variety of attacking options available on the pitch were causing the home side no end of problems, but it was from a simple set-piece that the Lilywhites finally got the reward their first half efforts deserved; Graham Kay rising between two defenders at the far post to power Alex Mortimer's delivery from a free-kick low past Andy Banks in the Bridge goal.

The second half saw no let up in pressure from Mossley as they began to turn the screw even more on an increasingly hapless looking home defence. Chances came and went with a dizzying speed, so many in fact that even though Mossley80 is no stranger to the lengthy match report, there's no way on earth I'm listing the number of opportunities the visitors created, spurned or were denied profiting from by some very good goalkeeping.

With a tad more luck it's entirely possible that Mossley could have got their goal difference back to how it was three weeks and thirteen goals ago.

No matter how well you're playing though, holding a one goal lead is always a precarious position to be in – you're only a momentary loss of concentration away from having your advantage wiped out. Therefore any fears there were of Bridge somehow managing to claw their way back into a game they were only bit part players in eased significantly in the 78th minute.

Michael Fish had only been on the pitch a matter of minutes when, twenty yards from goal, he curled the ball through a crowded penalty and past the despairing dive of Banks to finally give the Lilywhites the breathing space their endeavours deserved. It wasn't as good as his strike from practically the same spot in last season's corresponding fixture but it wasn't far off either.

In fact if Fish had scored it for FCUB, Halifax, Boston, Wakefield or any of the countless other clubs who have goals and match footage uploaded regularly to supposedly 'against league rules' video sharing websites, there'd be a whole host of people around the world saying how good it was. As the likes of Mossley aren't allowed to do that though you're going to have to take my word, and the word of everyone else who was there, that it was a pip and a dandy.

We may have beaten bigger teams with bigger score lines since August but this was probably the best ninety minutes of football we've played for a good while.

While it's hard not to get to carried away after seeing the side you support run rings around a team from the upper echelons of the league, you have to keep reminding yourself not to go overboard. However a bit of optimism doesn't go amiss every now and again and if (and it's a humongous if I grant you) Mossley can repeat what they did in Preston on even a semi-regular basis then we'll be in for a very good final two thirds of the season.

Undoubtedly some people will view Andy Robertson's return to the number one position in this game and the subsequent clean sheet as linked but the real reason for Mossley's improved defensive performance lies further up the pitch.

The difference having two combative midfielders in the centre of the park made was extraordinary and it was the pairing of Kelly and Weston rather than a change in goalkeepers which saw Mossley look more solid than they have done recently. Not only did they protect the back four they provided a platform to build attack after attack from too.

It would be wrong to single out these two players as the sole reason for our return to points collecting though as no one in an orange (or green) shirt put in anything less than a very good performance. From the front where the two Danny's chased and harassed the Brig defence all night to our solid showing across the back we were, frankly, brilliant.

It's entirely possible that Jericho's wall may come crashing down to the sound of Woodley's horn on Saturday but at least we'll head to Plastic Land knowing what we can do when we click and the confidence that brings.

And finally, a big thank you to the players for not only the result but coming across to clap the supporters at the end. It's a small thing but it's never not appreciated.

Mossley 2 - 3 Salford City

Apart from a few sides at the uttermost ends of the football spectrum, that is the extremely bad and the extremely good, a season for most sides is akin to a sine wave – a series of highs and lows with a constantly shifting frequency.

With this in mind, at this precise moment it's fair to say that after riding an early season peak, Mossley are currently barrelling down the slope of a deep trough. The depressing thing is that there's no visible point where you can see the slope flattening out either.

Given the nature of their upcoming fixtures between now and the New Year, this game, against a side rock bottom of the league and without a win in it, technically represented Mossley's best chance of halting their losing streak.

However, for the second week running Mossley's inability to kill teams off when they were comfortably on top in a game was to prove costly once more as profligacy in attack, along with a considerable amount of charity in defence, allowed Salford to record their first victory in the league this season.

And the frightening nature of their near surrender after the interval leaves you seriously wondering where those next points are going to come from.

There was no foreshadowing of what was to happen after the break when the match got under way as straight from the kick-off the Lilywhites looked determined to put their recent run of bad results behind them. In doing so they exerted a tremendous amount of pressure on their opponents goal, fashioning a succession of chances from some fantastic build-up play down both wings.

Initially the chances were going begging as players narrowly missed out on applying the finishing touches but when they finally did start connecting with the stream of through balls and crosses being played into the box, the Salford goal began to live a charmed life.

At least it did until the 19th minute when Christian Hirst fed Lee Blackshaw's low cross into the path of Danny Egan and the former Macclesfield player slipped the ball under Martin Campbell to give the Lilywhites a thoroughly merited lead.

Danny Egan receives the congratulations of his team mates after netting the opener.

That changed though eight minutes later when Danny Toronczak found himself alone with the ball at his feet on the edge of the Mossley penalty area, the home team's defence seemingly having gone AWOL. It was an open invitation to score that the ex-Lilywhite forward had no qualms in accepting and he calmly slotted the ball past Ashley Connor to give the visitors a surprise equaliser.

The goal saw Mossley redouble their efforts as an attacking force and within seconds of the restart the City back line were literally throwing themselves in front of the ball as the Lilywhites began to pepper their goal with shots. On the occasions their efforts proved ineffective, goalkeeper Campbell was turning out to be a more formidable barrier.

He was confined to the role of a worried spectator though when on two occasions during a sequence of six consecutive corners, his defence went spectacularly close to putting Mossley back in front. The first saw Marsh hammer the ball into the side netting and fropm the resulting corner his partner in the centre of City's defence, Pollock, scooped an attempted clearance over his own head and onto the crossbar.

As half-time approached though the home side failed to heed the lesson about leaving their opponents unmarked from the first goal and the consequence proved damaging. It was Toronczak once more who was afforded acres of space to bring a long ball under control, only this time he was upended by the onrushing Connor before he could get his shot away. The awarding of a penalty came as no surprise and neither did Toronczak's conversion of it.

Ashley Connor floors Toronczak for the penalty.

When the teams went off at the interval there was no reason to think why Mossley couldn't get back into the game but the expected onslaught of Campbell's goal after the break never materialised. Instead, for every bit as a good as they were in the first half, the Lilywhites were the complete opposite in the second and they looked a beaten side straight from the restart.

And that's exactly what they became in the 58th minute when Salford's impressive start to the second period, one which had seen them go close to extending their lead on more than a couple of occasions, was rewarded with a third goal. Once again, the ease in which it came was disturbing as Nathan McDonald was allowed to run through a host of motionless white shirts to glance home a free-kick floated into the box by Lathan Forrester.


A series of changes to both the Mossley personnel and formation only had the effect of looking like chaos theory was being employed as a way of salvaging the game – the “if we're unsure of what we're doing, our opponents will have even less idea” gambit. I know it wasn't intentional but as players drifted from one position to another (at one memorable point three of them occupied the same small space on the pitch) shape and a plan of attack became an alien concept.

By the time the things had settled down and the changes had begun to take effect, the match was virtually over. A late rally by the Lilywhites saw Danny Egan notch his second goal of the game and halve the arrears but it was too little too late. If anything, instead of giving Mossley a boost for the closing moments of the match it seemed to inspire Salford more and if Barry Massey hadn't wasted two gilt edged chances, and I mean a couple of point and laugh misses, their winning margin would have been much greater than one.

As I mentioned a few hundred words ago it's hard to see where the next point is going to come from, especially if we can't stop fingering the self-destruct button that somehow manages to attach itself to all Mossley sides – enabling us to lose games that looked an impossibility to do so.

It can be argued that luck, or rather the absence of it, is also playing a role in our current tribulations but the recent run of defeats can't solely be put down to a lack of good fortune. Poor marking? Yes. Not taking our domination of games to its logical conclusion? Yes. Spurning chances? Yes. An inability to deal with a forward line containing a modicum of pace? Yes. Because someone walked under a ladder or smashed a mirror? Highly unlikely.


Whatever, the situation we currently find ourselves in now is that out of the last twenty four points available we've managed to take just five. Of course, in some of those games we've faced sides such as Newcastle and Halifax who are expected to be challenging for honours come April, but conversely, in Salford and Garforth we've come a cropper to struggling teams because of the same failings: converting chances and preventing our opponents from doing likewise.

Hopefully the form we exhibited in the early stages of the season will make a welcome return over the course of the next month. If it does then as well as going a long way to securing our place in this league, we can maybe upset the apple cart for a few teams with promotion on their minds and possibly reignite our hopes of moving upwards too.

If it doesn't then I think we may be in for our third consecutive long winter. Albeit one with better football to watch during our 'good' patches.

Events at Bamber Bridge on Tuesday may give us a pointer as to which of the two paths it is we end up heading down...

"Stop Getting Bond Wrong!"

Hmm. What to write about to keep the blog ticking over till the next report is posted.

I could do a preview of the upcoming game with Salford and, with their new manager team, and ponder the likelihood of them picking up their first league win of the season at Seel Park; the kind of thing Mossley have been very charitable about in the past.

There's the option of doing a piece on how the Manchester Evening News managed to spell Mossley wrong during the week, or a much longer essay on why the Reporter decided reports on Glossop Under Nine matches are more important than those played by the Lilywhites (and yes, they did get one for the Trafford game).

Instead though I'm simply going to use this opportunity to say that if you're going to see the new James Bond film - don't!

Now I'm a big James Bond fan and I firmly believe there's no such thing as a bad OO7 movie. Okay, maybe Die Another Day had a few scenes that could curl the toes on a cadaver, but as someone who counts the much derided Moonraker as one of their favourites, Quantum of Solace is pretty average - the film just 'happens' leaving you feeling none the richer for having seen it when you leave the cinema.

Admittedly it's probably the most action packed film there has been in the series but surprisingly that turns out not to be a good thing. The king of action films is John Woo's 'Hard Boiled' which continually tops itself for sheer audacity throughout its two hours, but it does give you breathing time between the set pieces.

Quantum of Solace on the other hand is pretty much relentless and in being so, the adrenalin runs out very quickly and doesn't return. This isn't particularly helped by some editing in the opening half-hour that's nearly insane. Shots are cut so quickly that I swear some of them finish before they've begun.

It's not all bad though - the theme song is terrible.

There are some redeeming features - like I said, there's no such thing as a bad Bond film. A sequence at the opera is very well done, even if the montage in the middle of it is redolent of many other movies, and a few of the small amount of character moments are good especially one of the early Bolivia ones.

In the end though it's a film that could have been really good but isn't.

And this why I advise you that if you're going to the pictures this weekend (and you're over 18 and not easily offended), see Zack and Miri instead. It's funny, heart warming and should the question ever pop up in a game of Trivial Pursuit, you'll find out what a Dutch Rudder is.

To finish with Bond though, and to tie things in with the heading to this post, here's Alan Partridge's re-creation of the opening to the best 007 film ever (we have none of that Goldfinger nonsense here at Mossley80):


And finally, what the new film should have been?

Trafford 3 - 1 Mossley

If a week is a long time in politics, the same length of time can seem like an eternity in football if you’re on a losing streak.

November may be only eight days old but if it continues in the way it has started for Mossley, it's a month they'll be hoping to see the end of sooner rather than later as they fell to their third successive defeat in little over a week - the latest coming at Shawe View, home of Trafford FC.

The Lilywhites were the games early pacesetters and took a deserved lead from the spot after only eight minutes. Matty Berkeley's clever spin and drag back bamboozled Lee Southwood into unceremoniously upending the St Kitts & Nevis international in the corner of the box, leaving the referee with no option other than to award a penalty kick which Michael Fish duly converted.

The visitors continued to pile forward in search of more goals but not for the first time this season, the copious amounts possession they enjoyed in and around their opponents penalty area wasn't turned into anything more than the occasional half-chance.

This inability to press home their advantage was again to prove costly. Trafford slowly began to build up a head of steam and their sightings of Ashley Connor's goal grew with increasing regularity before the game was to swing in their favour with an incident seven minutes before the interval.

In his attempts to stop Andy Lundy from having a clean run on goal as he broke through the visitors back line, Graham Kay's legs became entangled with those of Trafford forward and after Lundy had crashed to the floor, the referee produced the red card from his pocket and dismissed the Mossley captain for a professional foul.

Lee Blackshaw was the attacking player sacrificed so that a defender could be brought on to fill the gap in the back four, but it was through the position vacated by the Mossley winger that Trafford brought themselves back into the game.

Two minutes into time added on at the end of the first half, Kayde Coppin took full advantage of the space now available down the Lilywhites left hand side and charged to the touchline before cutting the ball back to the near post where Scott Barlow was on hand to tap the ball home.

Despite a positive opening to the second period in which Rhys Kelly and Berkeley went close to edging them ahead, the game started to slip away from Mossley when the half was ten minutes old. Barlow, the league's leading scorer, was given the time and space to carry the ball along the edge of the Mossley penalty area before picking his spot and firing a shot across Connor and into the net.

With the onus now on Mossley to throw men forward in an attempt to secure an equaliser, their numerical disadvantage left them even more susceptible to a breakaway goal and after a couple of very close calls that's precisely what happened in the the 66th minute. Once again it was Barlow who applied the finishing touch to a pacey Trafford move and, in doing so, completed both his hat-trick and virtually ensured that the Lilywhites would be heading home pointless.

To Mossley's credit they didn't resign themselves to the defeat and with fifteen minutes of the game left Christian Hirst went incredibly close to halving the deficit, but with Trafford looking dangerous on the break every time a move for the visitors broke down, what would have been a memorable comeback never really looked in any danger of happening.

So, just as we can rightly rail against the injustice of our defeat at Halifax on Tuesday, we can have no complaints at being the runners up in this fixture. We started the game well and, indeed, we finished it well too – it’s the bit in-between that was the problem.

There are a few issues to be had with some of the officiating but none of them relate to Graham Kay’s sending off. In the ten minutes or so prior to his dismissal we’d come dangerously close to being undone on a few occasions by one of the forwards bursting through the middle, and in some ways the red card seemed an almost inevitable consequence of our failure to cope with it.

Though there were a few people who said as much at the time, the gift of hindsight tells us that sacrificing Lee Blackshaw in order to put a defender on the pitch to fill the gap at the back was probably the wrong option. Not only was the ‘Glossop Express’ one of our better players on the afternoon it also seemed to leave us unbalanced in midfield and as we’ve seen this season, it’s an area of the pitch where most games, in the main, have been won and lost.

It’s easy to be wise after the event though and you’ve got to admire the bold decision in not taking one of the forwards off to compensate for the lack of numbers at the back, but ultimately the decision didn’t help us. To be fair though there’s no guarantee that the result would have been any different had an alternative substitution been made.

Trafford were getting on top before they scored and the second goal certainly had nothing to do with a lack of bodies on the pitch – just a lack of tackling.

With players slowly starting to move off the injury list and back into contention for a spot on the team sheet, it’s safe to say (although it’s also tempting fate) that there should be some improved displays over the coming weeks, and not a moment too soon either if you’ve seen the fixture list between now and the New Year.

I can vaguely recall an adage that says you can learn more about a side in adversity than in triumph and after no points, one goal for and ten against in three games the Mossley management will certainly have been subjected to quite the info dump.

If there’s one really good thing to come from the three defeats it’s that it will have dampened down expectations for this season to a more realistic level. Yes, it would be nice to be at the top of the table throwing our weight around with the other promotion contenders but without the funds to sustain an instant tilt at the title, its better that we learn to walk before we run.

Re-reading the last sentence I have feeling that it may not make a lot of sense but having seen the visitor statistics for this site over the last week, I’ll be the only person reading it so I don’t think that it really matters all that much.

Roll on Saturday then and hopefully we’ll see a performance where we’re tighter at the back, a bit more forceful and proactive in midfield and able to fashion more than the odd half-chance at the sharp end of the pitch.

I won’t be too upset if we don’t but on the other hand I don’t want to see a Salford side containing a smattering of ex-Lilywhites pick up their first league win of the season at Seel Park either.

FC Halifax Town 2 - 0 Mossley

If the following report appears rambling, repetitious and, frankly, rubbish, (even more so than usual) it's probably because it is.

The reason why is as I write, or rather type, it's a couple of minutes off three in the morning and I've been awake for twenty five and a bit hours straight. I should still be some way off the hallucinations that come with a prolonged lack of sleep but just in case, don't be too concerned if I suddenly start ranting about gorillas in spacesuits wanting to kill us all or type out a transcript of a conversation I'm having with the magical bear that's sitting next to me (he has a yellow hat).

I probably should have waited till I'd had at least a couple of minutes sleep before starting this recollection of events at The Shay but I might as well do it while it's fresh in the memory. Besides, it gives me something to do while I watch the coverage of the US elections.

After their five goal collapse at home to Newcastle at the weekend, the last team Mossley would have wanted to face in their next fixture was one currently on a long unbeaten streak, but in FC Halifax Town that's exactly what they came up against on Tuesday.

And though the scoreline shows that the Lilywhites failed to halt The Shaymen's run of positive results, what it doesn't tell is that it took a scrambled goal in injury time to finally kill off the Lilywhites hopes of rescuing a deserved point from a close game. Not that the early stages of the match gave any indication that that would be the case.

As expected for a side currently racking up the points , Halifax began the match in a mood that suggested they wanted to kill off the game as a contest as soon as possible. It's a wish they might have got as well had it not been for some strong defending from the visitors.

On the few occasions that the Lilywhites back line was breached, keeper Ashley Connor was proving to be an even tougher barrier for them to get past; none more so than when he produced a fingertip save to push a tenth minute shot from Junior Brown around the post.

For all the pressure they were exerting though, the home side weren't having things all their own way. The best chance of the half, in open play at least, fell Mossley's way and came when a series of one touch passes put Matty Berkeley clean through on goal but the forward snatched at his shot and hooked it wide of the goal with only the keeper to beat.

Matty Berkeley ponders what might have been...

The longer the half wore on the more it looked like the sides would be going in at the break level but that all changed when Halifax were awarded, what was from a Mossley perspective at least, a contentious penalty.

Not only did left-back Nick Challinor appear to have won the ball cleanly in a challenge with Cavell Coo, the incident also seemed to have taken place outside the Mossley box. After the lengthy protests had been waved away John Smith stepped up to the spot and stroked the ball past Connor to put his side ahead.

The goal gave the home side a visible boost and the Lilywhites survived more than a few close calls before the arrival of the interval, and in the five minutes immediately after it as well.

Following that initial flurry of action at the start of the second period the game slowly began to turn Mossley's way; the introduction at half-time of substitutes Ryan Cook and Daryl Weston adding some steel to the Lilywhites midfield and, as a consequence, wrestled a greater share of the possession away from their opponents. And with this increase came a growth in the number of chances that began to fall the Lilywhites way.

Weston had a shot bundled off the line, Michael Fish and Christian Hirst forced keeper Jon Kennedy into making two good reaction saves and numerous other players had efforts that flashed narrowly wide of the goal frame but try as they might - Mossley just couldn't divert the ball into the net.

The moment when they probably realised that it wasn't to be their night came with five minutes left. A powerful run down the right from Hirst ended with the winger finding Cook on the edge of the Halifax box and while his first time shot shot left Kennedy rooted to the spot, it couldn't beat the right hand upright.

Then came the killer blow to the Lancashire sides rapidly fading hopes of claiming what would have been a warranted point. A cheaply conceded free-kick was fired into the Mossley penalty area and after a series of ricochets Brown poked the ball over the line to seal the win.

It's fair to say that I approached this match with a fair amount of trepidation, particularly with the Blue Star match still a gaping and bloodied wound. If we were to repeat the performance from that game then we'd almost certainly be on the receiving end of a pummelling and the prospect of paying £10 to witness such a thing was frightening.

In the end I needn't have been worried. Yes – we lost. But after the way Halifax have strengthened since we beat them in September and the manner in which we've been weakened through departures and injuries, until that last minute goal all that separated the two sides was an extremely dubious penalty.

Naturally some Halifax fans will protest that it was the right decision but in his post match interview even Jim Vince, Town's manager, said that it wasn't a penalty and the fact that the referee started to give Mossley a few debatable decisions in its immediate aftermath (although none quite as generous as that penalty award) suggests that he'd realised he'd made an enormous cock-up.

In the end though if Mossley had taken just a small percentage of the chances they created, and likewise Halifax in the first half, the spot kick would just be a small footnote in the match. Unfortunately some good goalkeeping, allied with in parts some poor finishing and final balls, ensured that we drew a blank for the second game running.

If you were to glance at the Halifax websites you'd be under the impression that Mossley's improvement in the second half came as a result of The Shaymen choosing to sit deep. This does the Lilywhites an enormous disservice though as it lessens the obvious impact the introduction of Messrs Cook and Weston had at half-time.

To use a cliché, by simply getting “stuck in” they completely disrupted Halifax's game plan which up to that point had been serviced by their midfield's ability to move the ball around the centre of the pitch relatively unchecked. By denying them space Town had no option but to move the ball back towards their own goal before it was hurriedly unleashed up the pitch to no-one in particular as the defence was closed down.

Halifax stewards make one of their twice-a-minute patrols of the more rebellious element of the Mossley support

At the moment on TV John McCain is delivering his concession speech and in closing this report, I've got to echo in some way what he's saying about his election campaign and America, but transpose it three and a half thousand miles or so eastwards to football and yesterday evenings events in West Yorkshire – the battle might have been lost but there's no need for despondency as the future looks good.

Now to try and get some much needed sleep and it may be just that little bit easier now that I know someone who recently voluntarily had witches cast from her isn't a heartbeat away from the nuclear trigger.

Leopold: Don't forget to save it before you switch your computer off.

Me: Oh yes, thanks! I almost forgot. By the way, your hat has fallen off...

Mossley 0 - 5 Newcastle Blue Star

Halloween appeared to arrive at Seel Park a day later than the rest of the country as visitors Newcastle Blue Star showed a few tricks and treated themselves to five goals and three points in as one sided a game as you're likely to see all season.

The game started badly for the home side with Blue Star putting them under pressure straight from the kick-off, and it went steadily downhill from there, attaining the label of disastrous in the 28th minute; Newcastle effectively ending the game as a contest before even a third of it had elapsed when Paul Brayson, in addition to earlier strikes by Darren Craddock and David McTiernan, put the men from Tyneside three goals up.

That the scoreline was no different when half-time arrived was the one bright spot for Mossley at the end of the opening period. However there was to be no respite after the interval as within sixty seconds of the restart, three became four.

Receiving the ball twenty five yards from goal, Chris Emms was given the time and space to loft it accurately over three defenders and the goalkeeper for what would have been the goal of the game had Newcastle's fifth of the afternoon not surpassed it ten minutes later.

Brayson initially looked to have missed the chance of doubling his account when, in a race for possession with Mossley keeper Ashley Connor, his heavy touch appeared to have sent the ball off for a goal kick. A sudden turn of speed however enabled him to stop it dead on the touchline and from the acutest angle possible on a football pitch, the Blue Star forward somehow managed to steer the ball past two covering defenders and into the goal.

With a little over twenty minutes of the game remaining Newcastle keeper Dan Lawson was finally called on to do something other than sweep up over hit long balls, the visitor's custodian having to make a smart reaction save stop a header from Michael Fish sneaking past him. He looked a little less convincing a short time later when he almost fumbled a Scott Holt cross into his own net but he wasn't to be tested any further in the game.

The scoreline could have had an even more emphatic look for the visitors had they taken just a fraction of their chances in the closing stages of the game, but the welcome sound of the final whistle, at least it was welcomed from a Mossley perspective, ensured that their tally would remain at just the five.

Whether things would have been any different if Mossley had been able to field something approaching their first choice eleven, rather than another reshuffled line-up brought about by the injury crisis that is currently enveloping the club, is probably a moot point as if Newcastle's performance in this game was indicative of how they play every match, I doubt that many sides in this division, even those operating at full strength, will better them over the course of the season.

And to be honest, when a club allegedly has a weekly wage bill that's equivalent to the GDP of a medium sized African nation, you'd certainly expect them to be good.

Then again it's hard to judge precisely just how good they were because of Mossley's total ineffectiveness over the course of the ninety minutes. Despite the aforementioned caveat regarding our current predicament there's no denying that there was a touch of the horror show from the home side, and it was one which made The Exorcist look like an episode of Father, Dear Father*.

As somebody said at the match, losing to five unanswered goals isn't the problem – it's the manner in which you do and with the exception of a few players, we struggled to avoid being third best in what was a two horse race.

Not for the first, second or even third time this season we've come up against a side who've closed us down quickly and in doing so won the game because we've been unable to counteract it. Instead we just seem to drop deeper and deeper and hope that we can make something out of a succession of long punts up the pitch to an increasingly isolated front line.

You've got to have some sympathy for Ashley Connor too. After standing behind the most porous back line in Mossley's recent history (and in doing so playing an instrumental role in our goals against column not hitting the 200 mark last season), he must have been suffering more flashbacks than 'Nam veteran on the Fourth of July on his return to the club.

None of the blame for the goals can be placed solely on his shoulders as they were either the result of a brilliant finish and some good build-up play or defending that wouldn't have looked out of place in a two reeler from Mack Sennet's studios.

With a trip to the rapidly improving Shaymen of Halifax next up for the Lilywhites it's to be hoped that this result, injuries or not, is the shock to the system Mossey needed in order to rediscover their early season form. If it doesn't act like the metaphorical bucket of cold water though, and the cavalry remain on the injury list, we could be in for a long night in West Yorkshire this Tuesday.

What may happen is all conjecture though and to end an upbeat note, as the Roman philosopher Horace once said:

"Live as brave men and face adversity with stout hearts."

In doing so you just never know what might transpire on the other side of the Pennines in a couple of days time...


* Other similies considered for this bit included:

• Nightmare On Elm Street/In The Night Garden
  
• Shining/Bananas In Pyjamas
  
• Cannibal Holocaust/Ready Steady Cook
  
• Hostel/Holiday programme
  
• Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisp/Frasier

Bringing Things Back Home

In an attempt to redress the balance of all this week's Curzon related postings, it's time for a Mossley video - all three goals scored by the Lilywhites in the recent FA Cup match at the Tameside Stadium.

Yes, Curzon scored four but hopefully the clips will bring back memories of that spell when after pulling the game back to 3 - 3 from 3 - 1 down, it looked like we might go on and win it. Ahh, those short lived moments...

Being fair and unbiased I would have included Curzon's goals as well but as I only have one of them I really couldn't be bothered. Still, it is a Mossley blog so:

Curzon Ashton 1 - 1 Hinckley United

I never thought that I’d be re-evaluating Mossley’s game at Chorley quite as quickly as this but this match for the most part made Saturday’s game look like the last four minutes of the Croatia – Turkey game in Euro 2008.

Don't worry, I’m not going to write a huge amount about this game because there isn’t really a lot to mention. So briefly...

The game might have gone on for two hours (plus penalties) but in truth only around five minutes of it could be classed as being any good. Hinckley made the brighter start and if it wasn’t for a strike force that was about as lethal as cress, the game would have been done and dusted before Glynn Barker pounced on an errant back pass to put the home side one up.

Instead of ratcheting up the excitement levels though the goal had the opposite effect and it devolved into a series of tit-for-tat fouls (and trust me there was plenty of tat) until Hinckley equalised through a rather quite superb strike from their left back Franklin – one of only a few on the Leicestershire side to look like a Conference North player.

Extra-time came and went, occasionally even rising to the levels of moderately interesting, but a penalty shoot out always looked like being the thing that would separate the two sides and so it proved to be; Curzon winning 3 – 2 in the shoot-out and on the whole deserving of their place in the next round.

I have done a highlights video however and though the thought of watching Curzon may be anathema to you (especially them winning), it is worth viewing just to see Hinckley's goal. And if you don't fancy doing that there's always the video of that free-kick from the same match.


Or you could watch it on the ITV site instead where it's better quality but has some of the reaction to Hinckley's goal blanked out.

The Things You See At Other Matches

While I try to work up enough enthusiasm to start putting together a 'highlights' video out of the clips I took at last night's Curzon Ashton - Hinckley United FA Cup replay, here's something to whet your appetite in anticipation of it.

And by that I mean give you some indication as to how "not particularly good" it was.*

So, the world's worst free-kick?


* Granted, if you were a Curzon fan it was a fantastic match (and the opposite if you were from Hinckley) but as a neutral it was all a bit 'meh.' And a very cold 'meh' at that.

Chorley 1 - 1 Mossley

If you chose to do something else on Saturday rather than wend your way up a rain soaked M61 to Victory Park, I applaud your decision making.

Just as it's always easy to define how good a game has been by reeling off a long list of exciting, action filled incidents, it's equally as simple to tell how bad a game was if the final whistle can be classed as a highlight. And sadly the latter is true in respect to this match.

In fact, such was the spectators desire to hear it, there was almost an audible groan from the terraces when it was announced that there'd be a further three minutes added onto the ninety at the end of the game.

As you can probably gather from the opening two paragraphs this isn't a match that will live long in the memory of anyone who saw it. That said, while it ultimately turned out to be a game that many were willing to quickly end, it did get off to a promising start

Obviously eager to try and put a poor run of form behind them, Chorley began the game like the proverbial house on fire and it's hard to argue that the lead they took after only five minutes wasn't a deserved one; Jordan Connerton forcing ex-Lilywhite Steve Burke's cross/shot over the line under pressure from full-back Daryl Weston.

It was a tempo they were never likely to be able to maintain for the course of the game and so it proved; their pedal to the metal efforts winding down into a series of hopeful and tired long balls after just ten minutes.

It took some time for Mossley to emerge from their shells but when they did they were soon back on level terms. A move started by Danny Egan on the right wing ended with the same player firing a loose ball into the net after Lee Blackshaw's overhead kick had been blocked on the line.

I can't bring you video footage of the goal because of the Double Standards League officials, but I can show it you in a series of stills:

Mossley controlled what remained of the half but apart from a shot by Danny Self that flashed across the face of the goal just before the break, they never looked like edging themselves in front.

Despite being somewhat short on noteworthy moments, the opening period was a real rip-roaring, barnstormer of a half in comparison to what followed after the interval.

Over the course of the remaining forty five minutes neither goalkeeper was required to do anything more than pluck the occasional cross out of the air as the game became a dour midfield battle, punctuated all to often, and for the most part unnecessarily, by the shrill of the referee's whistle.

If anything summed up how poor things were, it was the one genuine goalscoring opportunity that arrived in its closing stages. On the edge of the six yard box and with goal at his mercy, Chorley's Josh Kenworthy sliced a shot so far wide that it took a moment for the assistant referee to work out whether it had gone off for a goal kick or a throw-in.

I hate to use excuses but there are a few possible reasons as to why the game was so unremittingly lacklustre for the majority of its running time. First of all the terrible weather was hardly conducive to playing good football. Secondly, visits to Chorley always seem to bring out the averageness in Mossley. Junction 8 of the M61 is like Kryptonite to the Lilywhites.

Thirdly, and perhaps the most important, Mossley were once again having to field an unfamiliar looking side due to an injury list that doesn't seem to be getting any shorter. In fact during the course of the match it grew by two more names – Egan and Blackshaw both having to hobble off in the second half.

Overall though in taking a point from a ground where such things have been a rarity in the past, Mossley will probably be the happier of the two teams. Especially as it keeps their unbeaten record away from home in the league intact as well.

However, come the end of the season, should the Lilywhites miss out on promotion or a play-off spot by two points, it's games like this one (where they didn't make lengthy periods of possession count) that they'll probably look back on and rue.

Finally, having seen the report for this game in the Non-League Paper, as bad as it was I think we may have dodged a bigger bullet. According to the match rating this was a three star game so I can't even begin to imagine how bad recent fixtures at Victory Park must have been for this one to have been deemed average.

At least the team now gets a week off to recuperate, reflect and re... well something else beginning with re, before we face Newcastle and Halifax within the space of three days – two games that are likely to have a big effect on our aspirations for the season.

As Seen In Ljubljana, Cluj-Napoca...

The second league meeting between Mossley and Wakefield at Seel Park last season was notable for a few things:

1. It was the final match of a long, arduous and often fraught campaign.
2. The 0 – 0 scoreline meant a rare clean sheet for a side that had conceded 100 goals in the league.
3. The match was one of the dullest 90 minutes of football that many have many will have had the misfortune to witness.

It wasn’t therefore much of a surprise when the highlights video of the game I did turned out to be as popular as a three hour recording of a session of the Welsh Assembley that had been dubbed in to Kernewek.

In the five and a half months it had been online only 35 people had bothered to watch it, the last viewing coming in July. A total which even for the Mossley videos I’ve stuck on YouTube is pretty low.

At least that was the case until Wednesday of last week when all of a sudden it was watched by over 350 people in the space of 24 hours.

Thanks to YouTube’s statistic service which lets you know how viewers have stumbled across the videos you’ve uploaded, I was able to see exactly where the sudden number of people interested in the video had come from and that’s when things got even weirder.

I was expecting most, if not all, of the sudden influx to have come from an English football site – virtual ground hoppers – but no. All of the visitors had come via a Brazilian, a Polish, a Mexican, a Romanian and a Slovenian news/sport website, apart from a few who'd watched it through the Brazillian arm of Orkut, Google's own social networking service.

And the infuriating thing is I’ve no idea why.

I've searched all the sites as best I can and I can’t find anything that links to the clip. There's no trail of breadcrumbs for me to find out why a video containing no goals, bloopers or anything else of interest suddenly had five international websites pointing their readers to it on the same day.

There's a chance that they all decided to run a “the most boring football video on YouTube” piece at the same time but the odds on that must be infinitesimally small.

So if you ever find yourself browsing the above sites (you never know) and stumble across the answer as to why this happened, I'd be grateful if you could fill me in on the details because it's got me well and truly stumped.

Mossley 3 - 0 Chadderton

A night game played in chilling temperatures in front of a small crowd, most of whom wouldn't have been bothered if their side lost, can only mean one thing: it's the Manchester Premier Cup.

Last season Chadderton were the team that ensured Mossley's participation in the competition would go no further than the first round. Made up mainly on the night of reserves and fringe players, the Oldham based side sent a strong Lilywhites eleven crashing out of the competition with a 1 – 0 defeat.

Therefore when both sides were drawn to play one another again at the same stage of the contest this season, there were a few who feared that lightning could strike twice. Or maybe it was just me.

Fortunately, one year on from that cold and memorable for all the wrong reasons night at the Broadway ground, there was to be no repeat of that highly embarrassing exit.

Injuries and numerous non-availabilities meant that Mossley had a slightly unfamiliar look to their line-up going into this game. In fact the number of absentees meant a recall for some players who'd been given the “good luck at your new club” speech earlier in the season.

If it upset the rhythm and dynamics of the team in anyway it certainly wasn't noticeable as straight from the kick-off Mossley carried on from where they'd left off against Rossendale in their previous game – pushing their opponents back towards their own goal through some good attacking football.

Despite dominating possession and spending roughly 75% of the opening period camped in the half Chadderton were defending, Mossley just couldn't turn their advantage into goals. That's not to say that they weren't having plenty of attempts – they were, the problem was that they were keeping the ball boy busier than Lee Swanson in the Chaddy goal.

After the interval though the Lilywhites finally began to make Swanson work, not least when he had to make a superb finger tip save to push a dipping drive by Ryan Cook onto the crossbar. His heroics however proved to have been somewhat in vain as less than a minute later, and from the resultant corner, he was having to pick the ball out of his net; David Brookes finally giving Mossley the lead they deserved with a header from close range.

Midway through the half Chadderton enjoyed a brief spell where they went close on a couple of occasions to causing the home side a few problems, but any hopes they may have had of prolonging the match by taking it into extra-time were swept away with twelve minutes of the game remaining.

Their failure to deal with a dangerous cross from Sam Holt resulted in a loose ball rolling into the path of Nick Challinor, and the Mossley left back finished a move he'd started by dispatching it through a crowd of players to put his side two up.

It was Holt himself who made the final score line one more reflective of the game by heading home a deep cross from Kristian Bowden in the last minute of the match.

Well technically it was an own goal. Swanson actually saved Holt's header by pushing it onto the post, only for it bounce back off the upright and him before it crossed the line. To paraphrase Victoria Wood,his expression as it did so took on that of someone sat in a photo booth who'd just noticed a sausage being poked through the curtain as the flash went off.

There's no denying that this fixture was a potential banana skin for Mossley but thankfully, unlike last year, it's one that they skilfully managed to sidestep.

It wasn't a great game of football but it wasn't bad either. We'll more than likely see worse this season if indeed we haven't already (the Radcliffe game in August springs to mind for some reason).

The Lilywhites played some good stuff at times which I find reassuring as it shows that players on the fringes of the starting eleven can slot straight into the team without necessitating a change in the way we play. Something which at this level is a rare bonus.

Of course Chadderton being the opposition tempers any 'getting carried away' there may be with the performances of some players, but hopefully the efforts of David Brookes and Scott Holt, whose departure from the club was announced in the Oldham Chronicle on the afternoon of the match, will get them a second chance in a Lilywhite shirt.

And now all that's out of the way, and because the match is beyond the auspices of the Unibond 'double standards' League, it's highlights time!


And finally, to those of you who've asked how I'm doing and wished me well with my current back problem – thank you! It is very much appreciated.

Mossley 3 - 0 Rossendale United

Another short and 'no different from the official report' report this week as I'm still in no fit state to sit in front of the computer for hours on end doing two reports. The weather the match was played in hardly helped things and my back is currently stiffer than... you know, I'm not even up to thinking of something halfway amusing to finish that similie with.

There is a photo slideshow at the end of the post though and while it's no substitute for the video footage the stills are taken from, it will hopefully give you some idea of the goals, conditions, etc.

To have made your visit to Mossley80 a worthwhile one though, I suggest reading the post below this one if you haven't already. It has a few things that will pass the time better than this report did.

The Lilywhites returned to winning ways in their league campaign and fourth spot in the table with a relatively comfortable win over Rossendale United at a rain swept Seel Park.

The early stages of the game were a fraught and cagey affair as both teams attempted to adjust to the appalling conditions, but it was the home side that settled first and the lead they took in the 18th minute was one they never once looked like relinquishing.

That opening goal was the result of a fine team effort which involved Lee Blackshaw threading the ball through a cluster of opponents to find Michael Fish wide on the left. His first time cross found Danny Self arriving at the back post and the player who'd only been on the pitch for a matter of minutes as a replacement for the injured Leon Henry, diverted the ball through the legs of Hall to register his first goal in a Mossley shirt.

Fish, Dignan, Graham Kay and even Dale's Kevin Brown all went close to doubling Mossley's advantage before a second goal finally arrived five minutes before the interval. It was almost identical to the first too. This time though it was Fish himself who was the beneficiary of a perfectly weighted cross from the left wing; Mossley's leading scorer stooping to head home Danny Digan's delivery for his fifteenth goal of the season.

With Mossley appearing to be happy with their two goal lead and Rossendale looking more fired up than they had been for the first forty five minutes, the second half turned out to be a little less one sided.

The increase in possession the visitors enjoyed also translated into them spending more time than they had previously done around the Mossley penalty area. But thanks to some solid defending from a Lilywhites back line looking to post their first clean sheet in all competitions since the beginning of September, the side from Rawtenstall were confined to shooting wildly from distance.

It wasn't until the 80th minute that they finally called Andy Robertson into making a telling save, Stag's captain Phil Eastwood forcing the Mossley keeper to tip his powerful shot over the cross bar. The resultant corner also saw Robertson called into action, this time to acrobatically turn a 20 yard effort from James Heywood around the post.

In throwing men forward in search of a way back into the the game, Rossendale were leaving themselves open to a counter attack and it was an invitation the home side gratefully accepted in the 83rd minute.

Picking up possession after a visitor's set-piece had petered out, Anthony Robinson sent Danny Self charging down the right wing. After running over half the length of the pitch the former FC United winger played the ball into the path of fellow substitute Danny Egan who in turn tapped it past Hall for the goal that sealed the victory.

In Lieu Of A Preview

If you've come to Mossley80 looking for a preview of the weekend's game with Rossendale then I'm afraid you're going to leave disappointed. Not that there's ever been an alternative to leaving this site other than disappointed...

The combination of my current back problems and the fact that nobody ever reads the damn things anyway, has meant that I've decided to forego the ritual of writing the preview for both this match and the ones for the foreseeable future.

However, as I don't want to have made your journey to this blog a wasted one, here are a few things that may interest you:

• First of all I heartily suggest visiting this local blog to read about just how independent the local press are when it comes to the Council, and the rest of it is worth reading too. If you're reading this posting though on a computer in a council office don't click on the link - it will probably mean less grief in the long run.
  
  
• Slightly less seriously, next summer will see the release of a new Star Trek film at the cinema detailing Kirk and Spock's early years. The plot will undoubtedly involve the characters forming a bond brought about by a dramatic incident (and being Star Trek it will probably involve time travel), after spending the early part of running time hating one another. I'll bet though that it's not done in quite the following manner:

• Have you ever wondered what it would be like if the Four Horsemen ever decided to saddle up and Sarah Palin became leader of the free world, outside of waking up in the middle of the night with cold sweats? Well wonder no more thanks to the Palin As President. It's an interactive site so just click around on it.

Now that was a lot better than a dry run down of Rossendale's last six matches wasn't it?

Mossley 2 - 1 Radcliffe Borough

I've been so under the weather this week that I completely forgot about the report for Mossley's midweek President's Cup match against Radcliffe Borough. And I'm not in a position now to do a report on it either because I wasn't there.

Sadly my situation at the moment meant that I had to miss my first home game (be it league, cup or friendly) for nearly four years and my second in well over ten. I was kept up to date with events throughout the game though and to be truthful (and to my selfish happiness) it doesn't sound like I missed much.

To put it briefly: First half dull until Radcliffe were awarded a penalty, which was missed, just before the break. Just after the break they took the lead but goals from Lee Blackshaw and Danny Egan meant that it was Mossley that progressed to the next round of this prestigious competition. And yes, prestigious should be read in as sarcastic a manner as possible.

If you want some meat to put on those bones than I suggest that you head here

Still a cup's a cup and any silverwear will always be gratefully accepted at the end of a season, no matter how small the initial desire to win it was.

Chip Wrappers: 17/10/08

Technically the title is wrong as this post is to do with broadcast rather than print media, but coming up with a new series of headings for a medium that rarely features on the blog isn't worth the thinking time at the moment.

As you may already know, last week Channel M broadcast a behind the scenes tour of Seel Park with our Chairman Steve Astley, along with highlights of our match against Bamber Bridge. In total these pieces about Mossley took up nearly a third of the running time of the latest edition of the channel's Greater Manchester Football Show.

Those of you with Sky may well have seen it during one of its many appearances in the station's schedules over the past seven days, but now those of you without access to satellite TV can see it too.

Unfortunately, unlike a lot of web based video, you can't jump ahead to the bit you want to see by clicking on the progress bar, so you may have a bit of sitting around to do before the Mossley section starts at the 28 minute mark. Thankfully though the stuff before it is worth watching as well.

However, for those of you with broadband provider that gives you a limited, and low, amount of bandwidth each month, be warned - This video will eat into it considerably as it's over 250mb in length.

And with that out of the way:



Good, eh?

Curzon Ashton 4 - 3 Mossley

If at some point in the following report you start wondering that it looks an awful lot like the official one, that's because it is.

I would have loved to have done my usual rambling essay but because I can't sit in front of the computer for five minutes at the moment without it feeling like someone is whacking me on the bottom of the back with a mallet, I'm having to type in short bursts.

It's also the reason as to why the final twenty minutes of the match are a bit vague in the report. The medication I'm on to try and get the pain level down to something below the level of excruciating, has the side effect of leaving you sleepy, and it's because of this that I spent the latter stages of the match paying more attention to trying to stay awake than watching it.

Over the course of the next week I'll endeavour to put a few other things from the game on the blog, including the video footage of our goals. In the meantime though, and before I fall asleep on my keyboard, here's that shorter than usual report:

Dreams of a trip to Wembley or even an afternoon out in Grimsby will have to wait for at least another season as Mossley's FA Cup run came to a halt at the Tameside Stadium, home of Curzon Ashton.

The game had almost got off to the perfect start for the Lilywhites. With less than a minute of it having been played, Danny Dignan forced his way through a crowd of players to connect with a Lee Blackshaw cross but his header flew inches past the wrong side of the post with keeper Carnell rooted to the spot.

Sadly it was to be an all too rare excursion into their opponents penalty area during the first half as instead of building on the momentum this early chance gave them, Mossley appeared to voluntarily take a more defensive approach to proceedings. In doing so it not only left our attacking players isolated but allowed Curzon to dominate possession and control the pace of the game.

As a consequence the pressure slowly began to build on the visitors goal and in the 27th minute Curzon put themselves in front when Alex Elliot lobbed a 25 yard free-kick over the defensive wall and into the net. Eight minutes later that lead doubled as Phil Edghill capitalised on some poor defending to cut in from the left wing and fire the ball past Liam Higginbotham.

Mossley were given a lifeline as the interval neared when Edghill headed Lee Blackshaw's free-kick beyond the reach his own goalkeeper but in injury time the Curzon winger completed his “hat-trick”, tapping the ball home unmarked after Higginbotham had pushed a long range shot from Elliot into his path.

Unsurprisingly the Lilywhites took to the field after the break in a more attack minded mood and they were rewarded for it almost immediately. Just two minutes of the second period had elapsed when Nick Challinor halved the deficit with a header from close range.

The goal set in motion a prolonged spell of Mossley pressure with the only respite for Curzon coming courtesy of some head scratching decisions from the officials. Fortunately there was nothing in the build-up to, or execution, of the equaliser that could give the referee even the smallest of reasons for ruling it out.

A low cross played to the near post by Lee Blackshaw was met at full-stretch by Danny Dignan and though his shot was initially stopped by Carnell, the Mossley number 10 reacted the quickest in order to force the loose ball across the line.

The home side at this point were looking positively rattled but the Lilywhites' decision to add more caution to their play gave Curzon the chance to regroup and, once again, they were getting far too many sightings of Higginbotham's goal.

Unlike the first half though the Curzon attack was being marshalled a lot better by the visitors defence. At least that appeared to be the case until Michael Norton, with seven minutes of the match left, was left unmarked in the six yard box to head Curzon into the next round.

There are a number of things for the Lilywhites to be angry about in this match, not least the officials who appeared to be nothing more at times than a proxy of the home dugout, but the real ire should be saved for their poor first half performance which is what ultimately cost them the game.

Looking On The Down Side...

Well here it is - the biggest game of the season.

I could qualify that by adding "so far" as if we win, the tie in the next round automatically becomes the biggest game and so on and so on. I could but I won't.

The reason why is because doing so would in some way suggest that I'm confident that we can get a positive result, and once that happens it automatically puts a hex on things. If you don't believe me you only have to look back at the previews for last seasons matches and see how many we lost after I'd predicted a win.

I'm a jinx and that's why I'm allowing my innate pessimism to come to the fore when I say that I'm not in the slightest bit confident of picking up a positive result in this game, even after taking into account our win at Kendal and the tremendous fightback that took place against Bamber Bridge in midweek.

The identity of the team we're facing certainly helps me to build the doom and gloom as well. Curzon Ashton are a side who've somehow become our bogey side over recent seasons. Not too long ago them beating us would be considered a shock but times have changed and now it's us beating them that would raise the odd eyebrow.

In fact it's been five years since we last beat them and that, in an enormous dollop of coincidence, was in the FA Cup. And if you're looking for good omens ahead of Saturday's game (not that I am for aforementioned reasons), it's in this competition that you'll find them. We've met Curzon in the FA Cup on three previous occasions (five in total if you include replays) and the Blues have failed to get the better of us in any of them.

And on that relatively upbeat note (compared to the rest of the post) I'll end the preview. Not before saying though that while, I'm being negative for purely superstitious reasons, I really do hope we are looking forward to the draw for the next round on Monday.

So good luck to those pulling on the white shirts at Ice Station Zebra tomorrow and let's get behind them and show our hosts why, despite their comparative success over recent years, they've still got reason to be jealous of us.

If on the off chance though you want to read a proper preview then I suggest you do so by clicking here.

Mossley 2 - 2 Bamber Bridge

Hands up how many of you thought the worst fifteen minutes into this game?

I've got mine raised (I'm going to have to put it down though because I can type faster with both hands) and I'll bet that most of you have to. If there's anybody that hasn't done so, they were either not at the game or have a very questionable approach to honesty.

There's absolutely nothing wrong in admitting how pessimistic you felt. I mean it would be hard to feel anything but after the team you support just conceded their sixth goal in twenty one minutes of football.

Fortunately four of those goals were in the last seven minutes of the Stocksbridge match which meant that Mossley were only two down at the quarter of an hour point of this top of the table clash with Bamber Bridge.

And what made matters worse, if that was at all possible, was that the visitors goals had come courtesy of their only two attacks up to that point.

Admittedly the first was more down to a comedy of errors from the home side rather than any great play from Bridge, not that the ridiculous nature of the build-up to the goal concerned Sean O'Neil as he fired his side into a 6th minute lead. Not for the first time this season, or this week come to think of it, Mossley gifted the ball to their opponents in a dangerous position before channelling the actions of some headless chickens while the ball made its way towards the back of the net

Prior to Bridge's opener, Mossley had looked the side more likely to get on the score sheet first with Michael Fish drawing a good save out of Andy Banks and Lee Blackshaw hitting the crossbar with an in-swinging corner. Even after going behind they were still the team who were posing the bigger threat with Danny Self proving to be a particularly prickly thorn in Bamber Bridge's left hand side.

Then in the 14th minute came that second goal. This time, rather than something self-inflicted, Mossley were undone by a swift and well executed counter attack but the end result was the same, O'Neil applying the finishing touch to send Alex Porter's low cross from the left past Liam Higginbotham and over the goal line.

In the few minutes that followed it looked as though the Lilywhites were going to implode for the second match running. Heads dropped, arguments broke out all over the pitch and all the while, their opponents piled forward in search of further goals.

However, in weathering Bridge's brief and thankfully goal free storm, Mossley rediscovered their fighting spirit and by simply closing down their opponents faster and doubling up on the man in possession, they turned the tables on the Preston side, suddenly looking the stronger and more capable of the two teams on display.

The deficit that was halved just after the half hour mark when a turn of pace from Blackshaw opened up Brig's wobbling back line and Danny Dignan, the only player able to keep pace with the winger, dived full length to head home a perfectly weighted from the former Glossop winger.

Danny Dignan's diving header pulls a goal back for the Lilywhites...

Having regained a foothold in the game, Mossley's pressure on the Bridge goal for the remainder of the period was near relentless. Their efforts deserved the reward of going into the break on level terms and in stoppage time at the end of the first half, Michael Fish ensured that they did.

A long throw from Daryl Weston pinballed it's way through a host of players crowded into the Bridge penalty area before it finally reached the feet of Mossley's leading scorer and from twelve yards out, Fish thundered the ball into the roof of the net; completing a comeback that made Lazarus's look like that of someone who'd just recovered from a split nail

...And Michael Fish (right of picture) turns away to celebrate netting Mossley's second.

The equaliser set-up what promised to be an exciting second half and what followed after the interval certainly didn't disappoint.

In weather that ranged from the merely bad to the downright terrible, both sides almost ran themselves to a standstill in their attempts to win the game. The greater number of opportunities to secure the victory fell the home sides way but try as they might, Mossley just couldn't find a finish to compliment some of the superb attacking (and condition mocking) football they were producing.

With both sides virtually running on empty in the dying embers of the match, they were each given one final opportunity to win the game. Brig's chance fell to substitute Tom Ince but Higginbotham reacted brilliantly to push his shot away for a corner while at the other end of the pitch, Fish could only knock Sam Holt's deep cross back along the face of the goal after Banks had flapped at it like a man trying to shoo a wasp.

In the end though, even if they couldn't manufacture the win their second half performance merited, Mossley deserved all the kudos they received from the crowd at the final whistle for not only managing to claw their way back into a game that looked hopelessly lost after quarter of an hour, but into a position where they can feel disappointed not to have taken all three points as well.

This was purely and simply a great game of football, a little thing that has been something a rarity over the last two or three years. It would have been nice if we'd got the victory we warranted but that doesn't detract from the enjoyment factor in any way.

The buzzword for this season is 'progress' and this was evidence of it.

If you don't believe me, when was the last time you saw a Mossley team go two goals behind and not roll over and die? When was the last time you saw them stand up and be counted when things have looked ominous? The last time you saw them leave the pitch at the end of the game looking like they'd spent ninety minutes working hard in mud?

See. Progress.

The turning point in the match was when Mossley, for the first time I've seen since the Halifax game, began to hassle and harry the Brig players when ever they had the ball. By refusing to let them settle Bridge virtually collapse under the pressure being exerted on them. It was only when the pitch had sapped the speed and energy from Mossley's legs that both sides back on a level playing field again.

And it's this approach that Mossley need to employ on Saturday against Curzon because they'll as sure as hell be doing it to us. Every game I've seen the Blues struggle in over the last few seasons has had one common trait: the opposition haven't backed off them and allowed them to play.

Of course it goes without saying that we'll have to defend a bit better too but this match showed that we're more than capable of not only giving our neighbours more of a game than we did on those three occasions last season, but winning it as well.

Its got to be said the night was made all the more enjoyable by a couple of Brig fans who situated themselves next to us in the Bus Shelter. They were fantastically funny but I don't think they realised we were laughing at them and not with them.

At least I assume they were Brig fans but some of their comments about Mossley gave the impression that they supported a team that played in the luxurious surroundings of a modern stadium and not the cabbage patch with a big stand that passes for the Irongate Ground.

Still, it was all smiles and handshakes at the end of the game and it's nice to have a bit of banter at a match without the undercurrent of nastiness. A sentence I'd never have come close to including in the the report for the last home league game.

And after Saturday it was nice that there was so much going on out on the pitch that we didn't have to resort to discussing bodily functions and why sailors used to nail skate to ships masts!

If that last bit makes no sense to you at all, you really should read this blog a bit more often.

From Stocks to Bamber

Up till about 2:30pm on Saturday I, along with a good many others, had assumed that our opponents in this game were to be Skelmersdale United.

However the team from the ‘new town’ are unavailable due to the fixture clashing with a Liverpool County Cup tie, and because local FA competitions bizarrely take precedence over everything other than national FA competitions, we’ve been bumped.

A blank midweek schedule, and therefore the remote possibility of catching a second or two of the horror that is Holby City, has been avoided though by someone managing to arrange an even tougher game for us - current league leaders Bamber Bridge at home.

Both teams will be looking to bounce back from the heavy defeats they received in the Trophy at the week end; Bamber Bridge’s 5 – 3 reversal at Sheffield being slightly less humiliating than our 5 - 1 capitulation at home to Stocksbridge. History isn’t on Mossley’s side though as Bridge have never lost a match at Seel Park, winning all but one of their previous visits.

Even so, it doesn’t matter whether it’s Skem, Brig or someone else who turns up, or even what the omens are, ahead of Saturday’s match this game is about as welcome as Richard Dawkins at a convention for Rapture-Ready Christians; chocolate sauce in our FA Cup/Trophy bacon sandwich.

I know there’s a school of thought that says this game will give us the chance to get what happened at the weekend out of our system before we meet Curzon, but equally there’s the possibility that the problems will just get worse and be compounded by injuries, etc.. And personally speaking, if a team is to going to be on the end of a backlash from us after the last result, I’d rather it was our neighbours than the men from Preston.

But then, what do I know? I'm just a blogger desperately filling space in the fastest way possible because what should have originally been here is no longer relevant thanks to the Liverpool FA.

Mossley 1 - 5 Stocksbridge P.S.

You can tell how a game is going for Mossley by the conversation amongst supporters on the Bus Shelter side of the ground. Or more precisely by how many bizarre tangents it starts to head off in when things aren't going well.

So when I say that the topics touched upon in this match encompassed such diverse things as Charles Hawtrey playing football, fish licking, Izel toilet paper and the most humiliating way of being discovered collapsed on the bathroom floor (and you really don't want to know what won that), it will give you some idea to just how bad things were for the Lilywhites in this match.

If someone ever decided to compile an encyclopaedia of football terminology, they could do worse than to use this game to provide the textbook definition of 'after the Lord Mayor's show' as following their superb and fully merited win at Kendal a week earlier, Mossley crashed out of the FA Trophy in a horribly embarrassing fashion at home to Stocksbridge Park Steels.

Not only that but it could be used to fill a couple of paragraphs in the description for that other overused cliché 'a game of two halves' as well; all five Stocksbridge goals coming after the half-time interval which Mossley had entered both in the lead and having been largely untroubled.

The 27th minute header from Lee Blackshaw that put the hosts ahead at the break was one of the few moments of note in a half that was almost as bleak as the weather it was being played beneath. What little in the way of good stuff there was though was coming from the home side.

Lilywhites captain Graham Kay had gone close to putting his team one-up in as early as the 5th minute when he headed a corner against the crossbar but despite enjoying the greater share of possession, Mossley's failure to construct anything other than the very occasional half-chance with it was to prove costly; both to the tune of a place in the next round and the £2000 in prize money that was on offer.

The visitors emerged from the dressing rooms for the second half looking far more fired up than than they had done in the opening period while Mossley in stark contrast, appeared to be on the field in body but not in mind. It was a situation Steels took swift advantage of and within four minutes of the restart they were level, Andy Ring poking the ball home from close range after a goalmouth scramble.

Stocksbridge's equaliser failed to shake Mossley from their sudden and unexpected stupor and neither did a triple substitution a few minutes later which, if anything, had the opposite effect to what the Lilywhites management team were hoping for as things slowly got worse for the home side.

Chances began to come and go with alarming regularity for the Yorkshire side as the goal the Lilywhites were defending started to lead something of a charmed life. Not least when, in a foreshadowing of what was to come, Ring skipped unchallenged through a host of white shirts only to launch the ball over both Liam Higginbotham and the crossbar when hitting the net looked the easiest of the options available to him.

It was this and more moments like it that gave the majority of people inside Seel Park the hope that Mossley may just hang on to get a second bite of the cherry with a midweek replay, but with the game nearing its conclusion that hope evaporated, along with the Lilywhites defence, in a glut of goals.

There was just seven minutes left when Carl Fothergill broke clear of the Mossley rearguard to finally put Stocksbridge ahead, and the scoreline was then given its emphatic look by Jamie Vardy; the Steels striker netting what will probably be the easiest hat-trick he'll ever score in the space of just four minutes.

In some ways Mossley can count themselves lucky that Stocksbridge's total only reached five, such was the legion of chances the visitors both created and were presented with in those last seven minutes.

If you've read the 'official' report before this, you'll have undoubtedly realised at this point that this one doesn't contain a lot of extra stuff. Part of the reason is down to pure laziness but the majority of it is down to being in something of a quandary.

I don't want to be too harsh in my assessment of the game because it's the first really, really bad result we've had this season. On the other hand though the second half was one of the worst forty five minutes I've seen from a Mossley side at Seel Park since, ohhh... ... last season.

We were good value for our lead at half-time, although a solitary goal was scant reward for the amount of possession we enjoyed, but goodness knows what happened during the fifteen minute break to change the game in the way it did.

Once the match got back under way there was a lackadaisical approach to our play, it was almost as if our interest had disappeared from the game. And when Stocksbridge discovered our Achilles Heel, much as Garforth had done a fortnight earlier, we were effectively beaten.

In case you're wondering what that weak point is, think back to the first, third and fourth goals conceded in the Garforth game and the last four in this one – all scored in a near identical manner.

Given Mossley's impressive opening to the campaign, it may just be that this was a freak result, the kind most teams suffer at least once once a season. But after their 'giant killing' efforts in the FA Cup seven days earlier, it does act as a timely feet grounding exercise ahead of an important league game in midweek and the derby against Curzon Ashton.

And hopefully it will mean the Bus Shelter Standers spend the next 180 minutes at Mossley games talking about the football rather than if high winds send people mad.


Some of the 'highlights' from this game may appear on the blog over the course of the next week. Then again they may not...

Different Shaped Balls

It's not very often that I read the rugby league story on the back page of the Oldham Chronicle (i.e. next to never) but as I was glancing over tonight's article, a piece about the Oldham Roughyed's signing someone new to the sport, a name in the opening paragraph of the article caught my eye.

The reason why was because that name was one shared by a former Mossley player. At least that was what I initially thought. Reading the details made it apparent that it was the former Lilywhite.

And the ex-Lilywhite in question? Anthony Bingham

Anthony Bingham scores the goal that was to ultimately win us the NPL First Division

He didn't stay at Seel Park long (he left during the 'week of the long knives' in the early part of the 06/07 season) but in his 26 game spell he proved to be a very popular player and as the caption to the above picture states, Bingo was the one who scored what turned out to be the title winning goal in the 2 - 1 win over Bishop Auckland in 2006.

If you want to know more details about how he turned on his back on football for the lesser of the two rugby evils, then follow this link to the story on the Roughyeds website.

He's one player I wouldn't have minded seeing back in a Mossley shirt but good luck to him though on his new career path and I hope he makes a success of it.

I wonder how long it will be, given the legion of Australians plying their trade in the sport over here, before Fraser Robinson gets a trial with them too?

No, that's unfair... I'd quite like the Roughyeds to do well.

SPS To SP For FAT Game With MAFC

Another week, another cup competition and this Saturday sees Mossley start their assault on the other FA prize available to them this season - the Trophy.

Amid all the excitement generated by the win over Kendal last week in the Challenge Cup, it would be easy to dismiss this game with a shrug of the shoulders but not only is it an important competition in terms of prestige, it's also the second biggest money spinner for clubs at our level too.

Last season we left the Trophy at the first available opportunity by losing to Rushall Olympic. The season before that it was Cammel Laird who dumped us out on our backsides in the 2nd Qualifying Round. In fact the last time we actually reached the First Round proper of the competition via the qualifiers was way back in 1986, beating both Hyde and Stalybridge before we bowed out to Kidderminster Harriers.

And as if to prove that it is a small world, Mossley's opponents are the team Curzon beat to set up next week's Battle Royale at the Tameside Stadium - Stocksbridge Park Steels.

Our last meeting with Stocksbridge was a little over twelve months ago in the Unibond League Cup and though it started well it didn't end that way with the Lilywhites trying and failing to hang on to an early lead, eventually going down to a somewhat deserved 2 - 1 defeat.

That fixture was the first time we'd faced Steels in a knock-out competition and it was also the first time they'd ever beaten us; Mossley having won all of the previous games between the two.

A state of affairs that leaves the choice of two possible omens for you to take into the game: the bad one which says we've never beaten Stocksbridge in a cup competition or the good one which is that we've won every game against them at Seel Park.

Only one of them will still survive at the end of the match so lets hope that the good omen lives to be disproved another day.