Mossley 2 - 0 Trafford

You know, I could get quite used to this winning malarkey.

After struggling over the first month of the season to add to that opening day win at Garforth, Mossley made it three – yes, three! THREE! - in a row with a hard fought (rather too literally at times) victory over Trafford at Seel Park.

Heady times indeed.

The opening period was a keenly contested affair during which Mossley controlled the majority of possession but couldn't find a finish to match some excellent approach play. Trafford on the other hand looked happy to soak up the pressure and try and use the pace of their wide men to hit their opponents on the break.

Both sides had chances to edge themselves in front. A Karl Brown free-kick was inches away from giving the Lilywhites the upper hand, while it took an excellent save from Peter Collinge to prevent Scott Barlow finding the back of the net for the visitors

The breakthrough finally came a minute before the half hour when Steve Moore's angled run towards goal was brought to a halt by Trafford defender Billy McCartney. Despite winning the ball cleanly the referee deemed the challenge from the former Mossley player an illegal one, the result of which was a penalty that Danny Egan calmly converted to give the home side the lead.

One quickly became two after Moore unexpectedly found the ball at his feet courtesy of a terrible clearance by Trafford keeper Tom Read. Taking a couple of touches to bring the gift fully under control and create space for the shot, he stroked the ball past Read to register his first goal in a Mossley shirt. And not only that but their first goal in open (non set-piece) play since Michael Jackson was still warm.

Sorry. Too soon?

It was at this point though a game which had been played in a '(very) hard but (mostly) fair' spirit suddenly boiled over into something a bit more unpleasant. Somewhat understandably the visitors began to get a bit frustrated at going two goals down but the way it manifested itself in some of their players was not for the faint hearted. Challenges became wild and reckless and that they managed to make it to the interval with eleven men on the pitch raised more than a few eyebrows.

Melford Knight in particular endeared himself to the supporters of the club he used to play for with a display you wouldn't normally associate with a team captain. After spending what seemed like a good three minutes arguing with the referee about an incredibly trivial incident as the game went on around them, he was fortunate to receive only a yellow card and not a straight red for an awful tackle.

There should have been less yellow and a touch more red in this picture.

He wasn't alone though and as the teams trooped from the pitch at the interval it was hard not to wonder how long it would be before a player was forced to make that walk alone under the very specific orders of the referee.

Ten minutes as it turned out.

That's the length of time that passed between the match restarting and Trafford's Shelton Payne being given the opportunity get off home a bit earlier than expected; a yellow card for a completely unnecessary tackle from behind next to a corner flag, immediately followed by similarly hued one for dissent.

Bizarrely the dismissal seemed to have a calming effect on the visitors and the rash tackles were replaced by some good passing football. And despite the disadvantage in numbers they actually looked for a lengthy period of time like the side most likely to score next. That they didn't was down to a combination of two things: some excellent defending from the Lilywhites and the same awkwardness in front of goal that Mossley themselves have displayed on numerous occasions this season.

As they began to throw more men forward in search of a way back into the game, gaps started to appear for Mossley to exploit and but for the width of a post and an offside flag the margin of victory would have been a lot more comprehensive.

Not that many associated with Mossley will complain though as the 2-0 score line gives them their first home league win of the campaign and brought to an end a week which has seen a sharp and welcome upturn in their fortunes.

Three consecutive wins. Three consecutive clean sheets. Three consecutive sentences with the word consecutive in it. Who'd have thought after the Salford game that such things would transpire over the course following eleven days?

If you answered “I did!” to that last question then I would like to take this opportunity to point out your pants are on fire and that your nose is longer than a telephone wire.

But that's football isn't it? It's not a game designed for people who are allergic to surprises or who hate having their sanity slowly chipped away at. It's there for us masochists to get whatever pleasure we can out of the extreme highs and lows it puts us through before it finally sees us off.

Harrogate R.A. 0 - 3 Mossley

Our first league victory since the opening day of the season... our second consecutive win in all competitions... we scored more than one goal... excuse me, I'm feeling a little dizzy...

thud!

Several hours later...

I'm sorry, I think I must have fainted there with the shock of it all. Goodness knows what state I would have been in had I been at Station View to witness it happen live.

And that last sentence should be a big clue as to why this posting on the blog contains no report on Mossley's trip to North Yorkshire. If you wish to read about what took place on Harrogate's sloping pitch on the afternoon of September the 27th 2009, then I suggest you click on the following link to read the official Lilywhites match report.

If, however, you just want the basic facts: Mossley won with three second half goals from Karl Brown, a Railway defender and Matty Kay. There was a couple of bookings, a bit of shouting and one or two people probably swore.

What more could you possibly want to know?

Mossley 1 - 0 Radcliffe Borough

Hold on to your hats everyone - we won!

Yes, after ten unsuccessful attempts to outscore their opponents since the opening day of the season at Garforth, the smell of a Mossley victory fills the air once more. And not only was it a welcome result, it was a thoroughly merited one too; even if the team did leave it to the last possible moment to claim it.

It took nearly two hours of football on the night for it to happen but Matty Kay's goal in the final minute of extra-time (his fifth of the season) was enough to separate Mossley and Radcliffe in a closely fought Unibond League Cup encounter at Seel Park.

Actually closely is probably the wrong word to use. While it's true that the result balanced precariously on a knife edge until those final few seconds, as most 0-0 games tend to do, the declaration of the home side as victors should have come a lot sooner. Like I said not two paragraphs ago, it was a win that was more than deserved but Mossley being Mossley we didn't half make hard work of it.

For the first time this season, at least in the games I've seen anyway, the Lilywhites were creating an awful lot of chances with a significant proportion of them being good ones too. Unfortunately (didn't you just know that was going to be the first word of the next sentence) the finishing touches weren't quite up to the same level as some of the moves they were stemming from.

In fact, despite the number of “oohs” and “aahs” that were coming from the home support as another attack ended up resulting in a goal kick, Borough keeper Lloyd Rigby wasn't having a lot to do other than observe a succession of chances fly narrowly wide of the goal frame he was protecting or, as in the case of a diving header from Matty Kay towards the end of the first half, crash against it.

He was finally called on to make a save, and a good one at that, just after the interval when Danny Egan broke clear of the visitors back line but it was a rare effort on target.

All this isn't to say that the visitors didn't have any chances of their own – they did, more than a couple in fact; just not as many as their hosts and with an even lesser degree of accuracy.

Mossley continued to look the side 'most likely' when the game moved into extra-time. There was a wobble when Egan talked himself into being shown a straight card, but it was brief and ten man Mossley continued to hold the upper hand. That winning goal though was still proving elusive.

However, with a penalty shoot-out looming large (which given the standard of finishing on the night was a frightening prospect for those supporters who wanted to see the game concluded before sunrise) the final act of the game took place.

It began with the number of players on the pitch being reduced by one more - Borough centre half Sean Connor receiving a second yellow card for a late tackle on Sam Walker. The free kick resulting from the incident was headed behind for a corner which Karl Brown swung into the box as the match entered its 119th minute. Out of the herd of players crowded in the box, Matty Kay rose the highest and planted a header powerfully past substitute keeper Joe Brobbin - sparking the kind of celebrations you don't normally expect to see in the first round of the Unibond League Cup.

All told this was the kind of performance that we haven't seen (and been crying out for) from the Lilywhites since the pre-season friendlies. There was a visible drive and determination amongst all the players, rather than appearing to be confined to just the odd few, and this may just be an amazing coincidence but this, our best display of the campaign so far, came during a game in which the ball spent more time on the grass than pinging through the air.

It wasn't perfect (a fair bit of finishing left a lot to be desired and the occasional yawning gap at the back went thankfully unexploited) but when a last minute goal wins you the game two hours after it started it's surprising how much you're willing to forgive.

It may not have been a classic but we played well and we won. And after the start we've had I'm more than happy with that.

Having forgotten to pick up my just charged camera battery as I left the house to come to the game, I had to make an incredibly inferior third party one last a couple of hours which meant that I missed most of the chances that took place.

By a stroke of luck though I decided to use what little power was left in it to film the last corner of the match as I knew it wouldn't make it through the impending penalty shoot-out. And as a consequence I have captured Mossley's late winner for posterity.

However, because the league have dictated that video footage of matches can only be placed on the internet via their official web partners, and not sites like YouTube in case the reputation of the Unibond League or their sponsors gets damaged (it's certainly nothing to do with money - no siree and shame on you for thing such a thing), I can't show you it.

Well, actually I can.

Rather than proper video footage I can bring you the goal in the form of an animated gif. The quality is nowhere close to being as good as that of a regular video clip but it's the only way I can put it on the blog. There's no sound either but there's a way round that too. So if you want to hear what happened as well, press play on the audio bar beneath the animation when Karl Brown places the ball down on the ground for the corner.




I admit it's not as good as watching a proper video of the incident but until the league change their ridiculous and self-defeating ruling regarding them, this Heath-Robinson approach is the best I can do I'm afraid.

What's the phrase... “It's better than nothing!”

It would be remiss of me before I finish this report not to wish Ben Richardson a speedy recovery after being stretchered off in the first 'second half' of the game. I've no doubt every one at the ground who witnessed the challenge will have an opinion on it but to me his injury was the result of a clumsy tackle rather than anything malicious. One of those incidents where ninety nine times out of a hundred nothing would have happened. Anyway, get well soon.

Mossley 0 - 1 Salford City

There's a popular saying that states lightning never strikes the same place twice. Unlike most adages though which are built on a modicum of truth, the wisdom this particular one contains is nothing but a myth.

Scientists have spent hundreds, thousands and, likely, millions of pounds proving it to be false, yet they could have got the same result for the measly outlay of £14 - that's all it would have cost them to watch Mossley's last two home league games with Salford.

For the second year in succession The Ammies arrived at Seel Park still searching for their first win of the season and for the second successive year they left with it. The only difference this time being that they they claimed their points of the campaign too and all they needed was a solitary goal.

Its arrival eighteen minutes into the match was the result of a rare moment of quality on what was otherwise a poor afternoon for good football. A slide rule pass sent Adam Morning scampering away down the left wing and after beating Andy Watson not once but twice, the former Mossley winger fired over a cross which was met at full stretch by the head of another ex-Lilywhite, Rhodri Giggs, who directed the ball beyond the reach of Peter Collinge.

A few minutes later a shot by Danny Egan forced Andy Robertson into palming the ball over his crossbar, but other than a couple of half chances that flashed across the face of goal, that was best opportunity Mossley could muster in response to going behind during the opening period.

In fact the Lilywhites were fortunate they weren't facing an even bigger deficit to overcome at the start of the second half after Carl Ruffer grazed the post with an unmarked header from close range just before the interval.

From a Mossley perspective what followed after the break was marginally better than what had preceded it but it still fell some distance short of being enough to rescue the game.

Eight minutes into it Egan once again tested Robertson, this time with a shot from distance that the keeper fumbled, rather than pushed, away for a corner. Over the remainder of the match though Mossley were only able to carve out one more real opening and it came with quarter of an hour left.

Substitute Rob Crank played the ball into the path wing back Ben Richardson and his cross fizzed along the edge of the six yard box to Egan. The forward though, probably not realising just how much time and space he had, swung wildly at the ball and spooned his shot high over the cross bar.

The visitors had the chance to seal the points during a goalmouth scramble in which three shots were blocked in quick succession but a second goal proved unnecessary as Mossley continued to flail, much as they've done all season, in the attacking third of the pitch. The closing stages playing out with the same lack of urgency that had characterised most of their play on the afternoon.

The final whistle was the cue for scenes of celebration from the visiting contingent while those with Mossley's fortunes at heart were left to ponder on another poor week for their side; one in which an early season blip is beginning to resemble a crisis.

To bring this report full circle I'm going to mention another adage that seems pertinent for this particular report and, unlike the lightning one, does contain a lot of truth: if you can't think of anything nice to say, then you shouldn't say anything at all.

So my thoughts on the game and more specifically the performance as a whole are as follows...














And now the closing paragraphs.

With a little over a month of the season gone is it too early to start panicking? Possibly.

But with just one win and five goals scored in nine games, almost thirty players used and now successive defeats to what were the two worst teams in the division form wise, it's hard not to worry about what the next seven months could have in store.

Ossett Albion 2 - 0 Mossley

We lost. Again.

What? You want to more than that? Well if you do then, my, have you come to the wrong place!

Instead of freezing my feet off at Dimple Wells, watching Mossley's most recent efforts to put further distance between themselves and the top of the table, I was at home; my dad's birthday taking precedence over matters football. Although that said, I very much doubt I'd have been there if such an occasion hadn't coincided with the game.

Therefore with not having seen the match, I can't give you any indication as to whether it was a noble defeat or the latest in the ever growing line of miserable displays and results. However, that's not to say that I don't have an opinion on it, I'm just not putting it on here. Yet.

Various accounts of what went on exist in various places on the internet. The official report gives one version of events while the twitter updates and forum reactions from the supporters who went give a somewhat differing view. Drawing my own conclusions from the sources available leads me to the following:

It was a game of little incident in which Mossley failed to break down a poor Osset side. And given that we've also failed to break down poor Cammell Laird and Warrington sides this season, I think the p-word is an adjective that can also be applied to us.

Thanks to their 'one dimensional' game plan though Ossett tooke the lead with twenty minutes remaining and added a second not long after, leaving Mossley with a hill too steep to climb in order to rescue the game; a situation not helped by the only forward in the sixteen man squad having long since been substituted.

So the spiral continues and sadly at the moment not in an upwards direction. Instead we appear to be riding a nutty log round the toilet bowl of the Unibond First Division North and heading for NWCFL sewage system. If we can't improve then our only hope is for some of the stools we're jostling with block up the u-bend before we get there. And given that these sides are currently beating us, it's not a hope that can be considered great.

Oh well, if we can't claim three points off the second worst side in the league, lets hope we can beat the worst on Saturday when Salford turn up at Seel Park. Or at the very least hang on for the draw.

Mossley 1 - 1 Leigh Genesis

The search for the first win since their opening day victory over Garforth continues for Mossley after they were held to one-all draw at Seel Park by Leigh Genesis - a name which after over twelve months still resembles that of a pub singer rather than a football club.

As someone accurately pointed at half-time, it was easy to see why both sides were playing a league game and not an FA Cup tie like most of their peers were. I’m not saying it was bad... okay, maybe I am a little.

After a relatively even (a polite way of saying not a lot happened) forty five minutes of football that certainly felt much longer, one goal was all that separated the two sides. And thankfully it was a goal that went Mossley’s way just after the half way mark.

In the chase for the ball across the edge of his own penalty area, Genesis captain and former Lilywhite centre half Jonathan Smith ended a race he was losing by clumsily sending Matty Kay tumbling to the floor. Despite Smith's protestations of innocence (somehow managing to keep a straight face while arguing that he didn’t just perform one of the most obvious fouls this season) the referee had little option other than to punish him and after consulting with assistant as to where the offence took place, pointed to the penalty spot; Kay himself converting the kick for his fourth goal of the campaign.

Sadly it was a lead that the Lilywhites could not hang on to, their propensity this season for conceding soft goals in the early stages of the second half coming to the fore once more. The player to benefit on this occasion was Andy Heald who took advantage of some static defending to loop a header over Peter Collinge and into the Mossley goal.

For a significant stretch of time it appeared that this was going to be the final incident of note in a game that was slowly, and I do mean slowly, drifting towards its conclusion. With twenty minutes remaining however Mossley found a second wind that put their opponents on the back foot for the rest of the match. And though a winning goal never arrived it wasn't through a lack of effort.

Matty Kay almost doubled his and Mossley's tally with a vicious shot from 25 yards that hammered back off the upright; Graham Kay volleyed wide from a position in which missing the target was the hardest thing he could have done; Stuart Wellstead finished a long, mazy run by tamely hitting the ball into the keepers arms and deep into stoppage time, substitute Steve Settle headed a corner wide the post.

In the end it's a game Mossley will look back on and think they should have won. And after what has been a disappointing opening to the season, “should have won” is something of an improvement over what has gone before.

With a bit more luck and composure in front of goal we might just have won. And but for that defensive lapse just after the interval it's likely that the penalty would have been enough to give the Lilywhites the win as well.

To finish though (your eyes do not deceive you, this is a short report!) if you feel there's a lack of names above there's a very good reason for it – I’m not sure who was who and, sadly, I’m not just talking about the visitors here either. We may only be eight games into the season but Mossley have used nearly thirty players already, and keeping track of the comings and goings is dizzying.

So don’t be surprised if in future reports you find Anon passing to Thingy, before Whosit skies the ball thirty yards over the top of the crossbar.

To Ossett we head then (well you may be, I'm not) in the hope of stretching our unbeaten run to two games. Yes, the tension is indeed bearable.

Glossop North End 1 - 3 Squires Gate

Only seven days after the event but better late than never:

Warrington Town 2 - 0 Mossley

Who knew that apathy could have a positive side?

My current state of ennui regarding Mossley, especially the away fixtures, meant that I turned down the chance to cheer them on/passively observe their latest outing at Warrington. And what a good decision it apparently turned out to be.

The early messages filtering through about the game and the performance as Mossley went behind, and further behind, to goals from set pieces weren't good. Far, far from good in fact. But compared to some of the first hand accounts I've heard in the forty eight hours since the match took place, even those initial comments seem wishy-washy and non-committal on just how bad we actually were.

There's a report on the game here (another one here too) and I'm just thankful that having heard what happened (or in Mossley's case didn't) I didn't have to write it; one thing I'm not particularly known for is my diplomacy after a bad performance. Actually that's not true as I can be pretty level-headed after one. It's when there's a string of them that I begin to lose the ability to write with tact and... well, we haven't exactly been ripping up trees or even weeds recently have we?

So instead of standing in a strong wind at Cantilever Park, getting slowly depressed and not a touch angry at the display produced by a team I support, I was sat at home, unconcerned, watching old Trevor and Simon clips on YouTube and £7 richer than I would have been. Honestly, I could get addicted to indifference.

On FM This PM

This afternoon Mossley's Financial Secretary, John Larner, appeared on Tameside Radio to promote the clubs upcoming events. If you missed it here it is, just click the play button:



Or alternatively you can download it by following the instructions here.

There are no earth shattering revelations but hey, it's not that often we're on the radio (at least not when I'm able to record it) so it's there if you want to listen.

Mossley 2 - 2 Chorley

Another day, another game and another report that could simply consist solely of 'hum' and 'ho' being arranged into a well known saying.

It's hard not to imagine Mossley and Chorley having left Seel Park on Bank Holiday Monday with a mixture of conflicting emotions - both relief and disappointment at picking up a point in a game that either side could have easily won and lost. And the supporters likewise will have left in two minds; happiness at the the fact the game eventually provided some entertainment but sadness that the excitement came courtesy of a seemingly unending series of mistakes and not any great play.

The first half was one short on chances, good football and entertainment but happily for Mossley, it was one which concluded with them holding the lead. The solitary goal that gave it to them came in the 23rd minute when Graham Kay looped a header into the net; an opportunity that presented itself following a short spell of pressure brought about by the visitors failure to clear their lines after a corner.

Graham Kay heads Mossley into a first half lead.
Such was the lack of anything else of note from either side (especially the Magpies) over the course of the opening forty five minutes, it seemed like that goal would be the defining incident of the day. Unfortunately it was a train of thought that didn’t take into account the generosity Mossley have been displaying towards opponents this season at Seel Park.

In their previous two home games the Lilywhites have conceded goals almost immediately after the half-time interval and this match was no exception. In fact it proved to be worse as Chorley struck twice in the opening four minutes of the second period to edge them selves in front. Both goals stemmed from defensive errors with Terry Fearns punishing the home side for the first and Chris Amadi (by far and away the best player on the pitch) the second with a superb finish from the corner of the box.

With Mossley offering little in the way of an attacking threat, it looked increasingly unlikely that they’d be able to arrest the run of home defeats. Thankfully though the rushes of blood weren’t solely confined to the Lilywhites back line as the visitors needlessly conceded a penalty eighteen minutes from time. Matty Kay successfully converting the spot kick for his third goal of the campaign.

As the game balanced on the proverbial knife edge, both sides proceeded to squander chances in an error strewn final fifteen minutes to the game. Mossley’s best opportunities fell to Matty Kay but twice he failed to connect properly with the ball as it bounced tantalisingly across the face of the goal.

While at the other end of the pitch Fearns should have secured the win for Chorley in injury time but his shot after being put clean through on goal had a touch of cockiness about it. Instead of placing the ball firmly past the onrushing Peter Collinge, he tried to be oh so clever by chipping him with the outside of the boot and paid the price – the ball arcing away from goal and bouncing harmlessly wide.

On the balance of play the draw was possibly the fairest result and given that either side could easily have lost in the closing stages, I suspect both will ultimately be happy with the point gained.


As welcome a point it was too, it was though another Mossley performance that was lacking in certain areas. There was a fair amount of spirit shown but you can't win games on that alone. You need creativity, guile and solidity too and there wasn't much of that in evidence. Again.

Much will be made of Mossley's threadbare squad on the day (we only had two subs to choose from) but the truth is that, the minor reshuffling aside, we played not much differently to how we've done when there was a full compliment to pick from.

The forward line was still isolated to the point where at one stage in the second half, new striker Chris McCaughtrie was playing deeper than some of the midfielders in an attempt to get a touch of the ball. The defence continued to be their own worst enemy, while the midfield was like the staff in Curry's when you want to buy something - there one minute and gone the next.

While leaving the ground after the match I overheard someone say that we should be beating sides like Chorley. Well if that was you then I hate to break this news: we are a side like Chorley, we're a mid-table Unibond First Division North team. Didn't you realise? And until some of the problems that have afflicted us in these early games have been rectified, that's where we'll remain for the foreseeable future.

Unless of course we decide we want to keep some of the teams at the bottom of the league company.

Ah well, it's still early days.

Cammell Laird 2 - 1 Mossley

As Sylvester the Cat might put it, "Our cup runneth over!" Not that it ever really began.

You see, hopes of a lucrative run in the FA Cup, and the remote possibility of appearing in a live televised game that's covered badly by ITV, were brought to an end by a piece of refereeing so diabolically poor that the Cammell Laird bench immediately came over to their Mossley counterparts to offer their sympathies.

Of course they could have asked their player to miss the penalty that was the result of that decision but hey, camaraderie in football doesn't extend that far.

The moment of contention came in the 94th minute when Leon Henry nipped in front of a lumbering Lairds player to knock the ball out for a throw-in. As the ball arced over the touchline both players made contact with each other and the one in a blue home shirt stumbled earthwards - incredibly slowly.

It wasn't one, it didn't look like one and nobody appealed for one yet the referee, after five seconds of contemplation, decided to award Cammell Laird a penalty for the incident. To say that you could have heard a pin drop when people realised he was pointing to the penalty spot would be understating things a great deal.

The ludicrousness of the situation was then compounded further when Henry was sent off and the referee started waving yellow cards around like a small child does a balloon on a stick; the Mossley's players rather understandably irate at a decision born out of sheer incompetence. The fact the linesman who was far closer to the incident never signalled a foul, or that the Laird players and supporters never appealed for a penalty should have been an enormous clue that it wasn't one.

I know the game has a problem with officials departing it but if man in the middle in this game (I'm not going to give him the satisfaction of learning who he is) honestly believed that what happened was a penalty then it can afford to lose one more. The fact that another team could soon be on the receiving end of one of his brainstorms one day is a frightening thought.

If there's a crumb of comfort to be taken though from that late debacle it's that we were at least spared the horrifying prospect of watching the two sides play out another ninety minutes in the replay. It was a poor game between two (and I have to be blunt here) pretty poor sides.

The first half I shall largely ignore because it was really pretty frickin' awful. The home side should have taken the lead as it neared its end but for the most part it was devoid of anything notable other than poor football; Mossley once again confined to hoping that a set piece would bear fruit.

What followed after the break was marginally better and no doubt helped by Lairds taking the lead ten minutes in. Not for the first time in this still young season Mossley's defence was opened up by a series of quick, short passes which allowed Corrigan to cut into the box unchallenged and score.

Another ten minutes later and it was all square once again; a Matty Kay header from a Curtis Noble cross bringing to an end a chain of events that began with the Lairds keeper making a monumental hash of a back pass. A goal which if you so wish, you can watch here:


There was then twenty minutes spent watching somebody driving around in a circle in the neighbouring bus depot before another moment of note happened on the pitch. A through ball had sent Curtis Noble galloping towards goal but as approached the area he was scythed down from behind - the red card that followed bringing no complaints at all from the home team.

The free-kick resulting from the challenge was fired narrowly wide by Sam Walker and that appeared to be it for the game, until 'that' moment in the fourth minute of time added on when Lairds won the game.

There is a flip side to that late penalty decision though. While it was grossly unfair on Mossley, it also helps take the spotlight off what was another very below average performance by the Lilywhites. The season may be still in its infancy but there is some cause for concern. I'd like to be able to go into detail about those concerns but I can't be bothered really, especially as I've already touched on them twice this season.

And to be truthful there shouldn't really be a report of any kind here. I had no intention whatsoever of going to this game. It was only after a lengthy discussion that I relented and made the trip (partially in the hope that it in some way would rekindle my spark for the game) and did so with the promise to myself that if anything was going to appear on the blog it would be video only.

However... it's four in the morning, I've got insomnia and this is the result. It's not a great report I know but having only had around five hours sleep in the last 72 hours, it's about the best it's going to get without hallucinations caused by sleep deprivation creeping in. Then again, the introduction of a talking animal or two would improve the football no end at the moment.

Remember, Remember The Fourth Of November

...The Trophy debacle and rot.

On the eve of our trip to Cammell Laird where we'll begin this seasons FA Cup trail (or both start and end it), I thought it might be an idea to remind everyone of our last trip to Kirklands, almost three years ago. Again it was an FA competition that took us there - the FA Trophy - and what a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon it was. The word enjoyable used in it's "not very at all" sense.

Back in November 2006 Laird where in the midst of their rapid rise from the lower echelons of the North West Counties League to the Northern Premier. The Lilywhites on the other hand were in the middle of a campaign that was heading the opposite direction.

As if to prove that spending money (and lots of it) doesn't necessarily buy you success, Mossley had assembled an expensive squad of under performing players, a wedge the size of Texas was slipping between the board and the supporters and the management (who shall no longer be named on here) were about as popular as a dead rat in a tampon factory*.

Still though, we went with optimism. A good win against a good side could finally kick start the season. And with an exciting new signing in the shape of Fraser Robinson in the squad, there was every chance that could happen.

We turned up large in number and hoped. And hope sprung infernal.

Cammell Laird vs Mossley - FA Trophy 2006


*A joke shamelessly stolen from the film Top Secret, which if you haven't seen is a situation that should be rectified immediately.

AFC Fylde 0 - 0 Mossley

Being the hardened football supporters I know the few readers of this blog are, we're all fully aware that a goal less draw doesn't automatically mean that a match was dull. Far from it.

If you're expecting me now though to follow that opening sentence by doing a switch - to go on and describe just how boring this match was - then you're going to be sorely disappointed. In fact everybody is probably going to be disappointed with what follows next so consider yourselves lucky for being given a head start.

The truth is I've no idea whether this match was any good or not - I didn't go. And like the Garforth game ten or so days ago, I had no particular yearning to see it either. My loss. Or maybe it wasn't. Anyway...

So apart from the nil-nil score line the only other thing of note I can bring you about the match is this report from the Blackpool Gazette. One which seems to suggest that once again we never really got the gun from its holster, let alone had the chance to fire off some fire blanks.

Still, a point is as good as none and it brings to timely end that early season losing streak as we head off to Cammell Laird in the FA Cup.

Mossley 0 - 2 Lancaster City

If when the fixtures were announced in July you were to ask any level headed Mossley fan (yes, there are some) if they'd be happy with three points from the first three games - games against teams who've been prickly thorns in the Lilywhites' side over the past few years - they'd probably have said yes.

Therefore the fact that those three games yielded just those three points shouldn't really set the alarm bells ringing. What does though is that after claiming a first ever win at Garforth on the opening day of the campaign, Mossley barely let out a whimper in losing to, first, Colwyn Bay and then Lancaster City.

While the defeat to the Welsh side was heavier, the reversal against Lancaster was possibly worse as not only were they nowhere near as impressive a side as Colwyn Bay (not that they needed to be given Mossley's performance or lack of it) but lessons that ought to have been learnt after the midweek game weren't.

It was the visitors who wielded most, if not all, of the early pressure and there reward was quick in coming. A low cross field pass in the 14th minutes split Mossley wide open and after cutting in from the wing Mike Rushton made no mistake when angling his shot past keeper Peter Collinge.

Some good, if at times desperate, defending and a couple of slices of luck prevented the lead from doubling on more than occasion; the Lilywhites penalty area playing host to a succession of scrambles in which the ball bounced around as if it were a pinball.

Unfortunately they were problems Mossley never looked like causing at the opposite end of the pitch, as an isolated front line again struggled to get close to winning any of the succession of high balls being pumped towards them. It was only at set-pieces where they were getting a modicum of joy: an in swinging corner from Curtis Noble was headed off the line and it was from another of his dead ball deliveries that Matty Kay scissor kicked a chance narrowly over the cross bar.

That the half-time whistle arrived with Mossley only the one goal in arrears was something of a relief. The hope that the break would give the home side a chance to regroup though was dashed within a minute of the match restarting.

Straight from the kick-off Mossley surrendered possession in the cheapest manner possible and moments later a right wing cross was allowed to roll across the face of the net to where Paul Jarvis was arriving unmarked at the back post. A goal virtually identical to the one Mossley conceded just after the interval against Bay.

Two should have been three not long after. Again it was another cross that was able to travel untroubled along the six yard box but this time the City forward somehow conspired to direct the ball onto the post rather than into the open net.

It wasn't until the 78th minute that City's keeper Martin Fearon was finally called on to extend himself. Picking up the ball at the back of the box following a slightly over hit corner, substitute Nathan McDonald unleashed a fierce volley that Fearon did well to deflect away to safety.

Rather than the start of a spirited fight back however it proved to be Mossley's last act in anger at attempting to rescue the game. With Lancaster content to sit on their lead and the Lilywhites misfiring as an attacking threat, the match drifted slowly towards the conclusion that looked an inevitability from almost the moment the second period started. That meant ten minutes of watching the grass slowly grow which, if you paid full price admission, equated to around 78p to witness such a privilege.

I could if I wanted make this report twice as long with my other thoughts on the game. But in doing so I’d only be repeating what I wrote in the latter sections of my review of the last match, except maybe with a touch more exasperation.

There was the same lack of ideas. The same hopes pinned on a long ball game that didn’t work. Similarities in the way the defence and midfield switched off at inopportune moments. All of which combined lead to something of a pretty miserable afternoon.

As I kind of intimated way back at the beginning, as a supporter you don’t mind your team losing - it is part and parcel of the game after all - its how you lose that’s important. If they’ve gone down battling you can have no complaints. If however it’s one where the white flag was waved pretty early on, you have right to the leave the ground feeling slightly miffed and there were some slightly miffed people heading towards the exits on Saturday.

Before I bring this report to a mercifully swift conclusion though I’m going to point one thing out. Over the course of the ninety minutes against Lancaster we managed not one single shot on target during open play, with only one off target in the same period. And if that’s not sign that something may not be quite right, I don’t know what is.

Of course it’s still early days and no season has ever been decided on the events of its first week. But with important cup games on the horizon it’s to be hoped that Mossley quickly find the form that’s so far eluded them.

And frankly it’s a hope that wouldn’t go amiss for these match reports either! Fingers crossed one of them contains something mildly amusing very soon.

Mossley 1 - 4 Colwyn Bay

I'm beginning to think that I'm a victim of an elaborate conspiracy.

Last year I missed the opening game of the 2008/09 season; a two – nil win at Clitheroe that was lauded by all who went as a superb performance. Buoyed by these comments I attended the next match hoping to see what all he fuss was about. What I got to see though was Radcliffe Borough run rings around the home side as Mossley produced a spectacularly woeful performance. One in which our attacks consisted solely whacking the ball as far up the pitch as possible and one in which the defence was there in name only and not deed.

Fast forward twelve months and the reports from Mossley's opening day win at Garforth are unanimous in their praise of the display the Lilywhites put in to take the three points. A few days later it's my first game of the season and once again the evidence before my eyes doesn't match what I've been told. Instead of a nice passing game and some steely defending, all I see is the ball hoofed aimlessly down field once more and a back line that seemed to fade in and out of this plane of existence at startlingly regular intervals.

So come on, own up! We haven't played well on the either of the last two opening days have we? It's all just a ruse to make me feel bad about missing the opening two matches isn't it? Like I say, I sense a conspiracy.

Anyhow...

The opening third of this game wasn't bad but it wasn't great either, the interest occasionally piqued by a goal line clearance here, a free header (or two) from a corner there, a “how did they miss that?” both here and there. In fact the whole thing was pretty much about as even as a game of football can possibly. be

That all changed though when the minute hand on the clock passed thirty, or rather 8:15pm, and Mossley took the lead. A cross Sam Walker floated into the box looked to be an easy catch for Bay keeper Chris Sanna but one fumble and a collision with three other players later, the loose ball landed at the feet of Mattie Kay and the Lilywhites midfielder calmly poked the ball into the empty net.

Matty Kay declares himself happy at scoring the opening goal.
Rather than putting the Lilywhites on the road to a much welcome victory against a side who've become one of their bogey teams, the goal merely turned out to be the equivalent of poking a sleeping bear with a pointy stick while covered head to toe in honey. And as a consequence the lead lasted all of two minutes.

Foreshadowing what was to come after the break, Eddie Jebb was allowed to cut in from the wing and move towards goal without so much as feeling the breath of a Mossley player bearing down on him. With time and space to pick his shot past Peter Collinge he did just that and it was all-square once more.

The home sides appetite for destruction was in evidence barely a minute into the second period. A bout of 'after you Claude' between the goalkeeper and defence allowed a Bay forward to nip in and launch the loose ball towards an open net. Or rather to a point at least two meters to the right of it.

What followed not long after could be claimed by the optimists amongst the Seel Park faithful to have been the turning point in the game. Bay right back Steve Aspinall completely misjudged the bounce of one of Mossley's 'attack launchers', allowing Danny Egan to get goal side of him as he bore down on the box. One hand on the shoulder and one dragging motion later, Egan was sent tumbling to the ground just outside the penalty area with only the keeper to beat.

It wasn't a penalty but the denying of an obvious goal scoring opportunity should have meant that Aspinall received a red card but no, in his infinite 'wisdom' the referee deemed only a yellow was necessary. There is a possibility the game may have swung in Mossley's favour had Bay been reduced in numbers but even as a Lilywhites fan I can't help but feel that we'd have still gone on to lose if we had the man advantage – we really weren't that good.


The resulting free-kick was fired low into Sanna's arms and little did any of us know that the effort was going to be our beloved 'Whites last shot in anger on the night.

On the next occasion the ball moved to the opposite end of the pitch the Welshmen took the lead. Again it had a generous helping of largesse from the Mossley players as the failure to twice clear their lines following a corner, combined with some statue like defending, allowed six and a half foot Daniel Jarrett to ghost in unseen at the far post and fire the ball home. Three minutes later and it was game over as another ball into the box was met with little resistance and Anthony Sheehan added his name to the goal sheet.

At this point the frustration began to show in the Mossley players and some hefty tackles were eventually eclipsed by one from Danny Dignan which started a 20 man free for all. The incident should have seen both him and the Bay defender who retaliated to the challenge by lamping him one in the face sent to the changing rooms. Once again though the referee showed an extraordinary amount of leniency by only showing yellow cards to the pair of them.

A difference of opinion ensues midway through the second half
With the final whistle nearing three became four as another defensive rick allowed Tom McGill to get his name on the score sheet, and it took a good save from Collinge in a one-on-one to stop a fifth being added in stoppage time.

It's a strange thing to say but a 4 - 1 subduing at home turned out to be a decent result because the margin of defeat could, and possibly should, have been so much greater. Every time the ball got near our defensive third of the pitch it looked like there was a chance it could end up in our net.

But there's no shame in losing to a good side and Colwyn Bay are a good side - that's a fact that's hard to deny. What you can't tell is just how good they are because with the way we played we'd make any side look good. Even Stalybridge Celtic.

Still, it's only the second game of the season and you can't really be too critical at this stage of proceedings. That said however what's not a little bit galling is that the pitch at Seel Park is the best it has been for years yet we made no real attempt to play the ball along the grass. Instead it was the long ball. One after another, ad nauseum.

Now I can understand that we may have been trying to utilise the pace of the two Danny's by dropping balls behind the Bay back line. However with two giants (and relatively pacey ones at that) making up the centre of visitors defence they didn't get so much as a sniff, yet there was no real variation from the formula when it was becoming obvious it was a plan doomed to failure.

It was only when we were 3-1 down and with time running out that we finally saw a bit of a difference. Dignan and Egan moved wide to allow Nathan McDonald to play through the centre and that extra bit of width finally caused the visitors defence to sit up and take notice a bit more. Too little too late though.

After the poor showing at home to Radcliffe last year, Mossley produced a fine display of good attacking football the following weekend to put three unanswered goals past Warrington. If history is going to repeat itself with the first two games of the season, let's hope the deja vu continues with the third against Lancaster on Saturday.

A Site Not To Behold

Why, some of you may be asking yourselves, is there no report from the Garforth game on here? The answer is I didn't go - it's a simple as that. No inclination to go either.

Instead I had an afternoon catching up on stuff I've been putting off for a while and occassionally dropping in on City's game at Blackburn via some websites that currently inhabit a legally grey area.

In order to try and keep up-to-date with what was going on around the division Mossley play in though, I had the misfortune to visit a website that operates in a completely different area altogether. One of shoddy amateurism with the faint aroma of stale urine. On second thoughts scrap the latter description because the pee has already been taken with the official Unibond League website.

After over twelve months into the job as the league's web partners, Sponsor-Link (an e-business company who don't appear to have their own website) still can't provide a site that is fit for purpose.

Ignoring the clumsy navigation, videos that start playing as soon as you land on the site and a list of other annoyances to long to go into, there were no match updates (even though people were texting in the scores to them), the First Division South's results still weren't on the site a full two hours after the games had finished, even though league table was relaying news of a 19-16 scoreline at Grantham, a 9-5 result at Chasetown and a 13-4 triumph for Lancaster over Prescot.

I would take the trouble to complain but I already know that the reply would put the problem down to 'teething trouble' despite, as I said earlier, the whole thing having been 'teething' for most of this year. If you don't believe me check this thread on nonleaguezone.

Of course the Unibond League have to take their share of the blame too. It's up to them to ensure that the website is fit for purpose and on this past weekend's evidence it isn't.

Actually I should have said the Northern Premier League because if anybody from the sponsors parent company Henkel saw the abomination their name is attached too they'd probably go ballistic. I mean, if you manufacture adhesives would you want your name plastered over something that never gets fixed?

What makes the whole thing laughable is that last season I, and a lot of other supporters in the three divisions, were told in no uncertain terms to stop posting footage from matches on YouTube because they may not be, and I'm quoting directly here, "of a quality that will reflect positively on the competition and our sponsors."

Yet here we are in the latter stages of 2009 and the league seem to be quite happy with a web site that not only makes them look incredibly amateurish, but probably does more to hurt the credibility of their product than a brief clip of a great goal scored at, say, Bamber Bridge ever will.

So while it may be a new season and a fresh beginning for clubs and supporters, it appears it's same as it ever was at Comedy HQ. I mean, if it's broke - why bother to fix it?

Garforth Town 0 - 1 Mossley

Move along. Nothing to see here.

Seriously, there's nothing here about Mossley's first game of the season and their first ever win at Garforth Town.

If you want to know what happened at Ego Towers, other than Danny Dignan (not Jordan Goodeve as the latest instalment of inaccurate reporting from East Leeds in the Non-League Paper will have you believe) scoring what turned out to be the winner after 18 minutes and Peter Collinge saving a last minute penatly, then I suggest heading over to Mossleyweb where a report will undoubtedly appear soon.

And while I'm recommending other places to visit, it's also worth checking out Simon Howard's Flickr page too for photographs from the match.

Normal service on the blog (including updates tweeted live from the match) should be resumed on Tuesday for the visit of Colwyn Bay. Hopefully anyway.

Paradise Lost

After seven warm-up fixtures (eight if you choose to include the kick-around at Dukinfield Town) it's time for the real stuff to begin.

Forty two plus games where there's something riding on almost every result. Over 63 hours of potentially nerve destroying football in which heroes will rise and fall, joy will battle it out with misery for our emotions and everybody is always the mythical 'one game' away from something - be it a big cup tie, a play-off spot or even administration.

Unlike the proverbial box of chocolates which actually comes with a sheet detailing what each piece of confectionery is, you really don't know what you're going to get to next in football.

The question that's bothering me though is this. Despite all of the above, why do I feel so enormously uninterested about the new season?

Seriously, this isn't a 'look at me, look at me' Julie Birchill-esque attention seeking claim - I really cannot call up a single ounce of excitement for what may be about to come. To all intents and purposes, it might as well be an unending list of friendly matches stretching out before us for all the enthusiasm I can muster. Nine months of matches for which the only feelings I can generate are similar to those reserved for end of season matches between two sides abandoned in mid-table obscurity - neither of whom I support.

If I could represent my feelings with a visual image it would be a shrug.

Regular readers of the blog (you merry few) will know that my fervour for football has been, let's say, 'damp' over the course of the friendlies. Although to be truthful that is usually the case with me for pre-season games but the encroaching dawn of a new season usually sees the bounce in me return. This time however things are different. No excitement, no nothing.

It's weird because even though our final game of last season was a defeat, I left the Manchester Premier Cup Final at Boundary Park on a high. The defeat meant nothing, I was simply proud to be a Mossley supporter. A little over three months later and it's all change.

It could be that it's football as a whole I'm falling out of love with. Match of the Day is no longer a must watch and I barely tune in to see live games on the television any more. International matches, Champions League games, FA Cup ties... I can't remember the last time I actually sat down with the intention of watching any of them. May be it's this that's largely affecting the enjoyment I've had watching my home town team for over twenty years.

What I do know for a fact is that the events at Seel Park early this summer are partly to blame for my indifference. I don't really want to re-open what are still relatively fresh wounds but I reached a stage of total ambivalence.

I know, I'm "not a true fan" (and frankly that nonsense is another contributory reason for my apathy) for thinking such a thing but a third consecutive summer comprising of rumour, uncertainty and being made to feel like a mushroom was one off-season too many for me. It dawned on me that there are other more important things in life for me to worry about (money, a job that could soon be an ex-job) than the continuing trials and tribulations of Mossley AFC, and I realised that I'd probably be better off focusing on them instead.

I'm not diminishing the actions of others here, far from it. Kudos to those who stood up and were counted when the crunch came and rallied to keep the club alive. Being the member of the committee, a steward on match days or someone who puts up the netting isn't for me but I have enormous respect for those who choose to do it.

Why have I told you all this? I've no idea really. I was kind of hoping that it would help explain why I haven't been posting ten to the dozen as usual on the forum. Why some of the forthcoming match reports may be a little more downbeat than usual or why there might not be quite so many reports from away games this year - even the neutral ones I normally see when I can't get to see Mossley.

However I think it has been more of a cathartic experience for me than anything else; the chance to get something off my chest that's been bothering me for a while. Who knows? Now my thoughts are out in the open, like love or a demand from HMR&C for unpaid taxes, maybe the excitement of a new season will arrive suddenly and unexpectedly.

If it's going to I wish it would hurry up and do so or else the next nine months could feel like nine years.

Everybody's Entitled To One Of Them

In your opinion, what was the most controversial incident in football over the past seven days?

Was it Michael Ballack's block on Patrice Evra in the Charity Community Shield? Could it have been Evra's ridiculous 'Oh my face' reaction to the blow to the chest he received in the aforementioned challenge and the subsequent miraculous recovery he under went when it came time to complain to the referee? Or how about one of the other contentious decisions that are bound to have happened on a weekend when nearly every league in the country began their new season?

Well according to the good people at The Referee Forum, it was none of the above. In fact it was something far more closer to home as you can read for yourselves here (Post 189 to 219).

I'm going to ignore the original posters comments about the time taken to get the video uploaded and hoo-ha about Mossley's penalty, but I would like to clear one thing up.

Jordan Goodeve wasn't offside when he scored the fifth goal. However the player providing the cross was offside when he received the ball. So blindingly and embarrassingly offside in fact that I actually stopped recording in expectation of the flag and the people I was standing with all said 'offside' in unison the moment it happened - and they were Mossley supporters!

Still, it's football and it wouldn't be the same if we couldn't argue about extremely trivial things in games of no importance whatsoever.

Kidsgrove Athletic 3 - 1 Mossley

Er... yeah, we lost apparently. Three goals to one.

Three for Kidsgrove Athletic and one for Mossley. The Grove easing past the Lilywhites by a relatively comfortable margin. A two goal cushion.

...

This was Mossley's last friendly before the start of the season. One they'll begin at Garforth Town who play in blue shorts. Which coincidentally is also the colour of Kidsgrove's shirt. Hmm... blue.

...

The sky is blue too due to what's called Rayleigh scattering. The atmosphere absorbs blue light then diffuses it... It's rather interesting really.

...

Did you notice that the last paragraph had four consecutive words that rhymed? No? Okay.

...

Is it anyway noticeable that I didn't go to this match?

For the record however, and so that there's not a Kidsgrove-Mossley shaped on the blog, the visitors goal was scored by Mattie Kay scored the penalty spot. It's probably also worth mentioning that Lilywhites keeper Peter Collinge went off injured and his replacement, defender/midfielder Ben Richardson, saved two penalties.

I wish I could add more but that's all the information there is about the match that's in the public domain, at least from a Mossley perspective. As is becoming the norm, despite what seems like a sizeable number of Mossley supporters having made the trip down to Staffordshire, very few actually want to talk about it on the forum.

Therefore if you didn't go you're pretty much in the dark, not that what happened matters a great deal anyway.