Ossett Town 3 Mossley 2
Well who is the sorry aimed at. First, aplogies for lack of updates recently. For those that know me personally, the week of the Prescot game left me with no time as Liam had his shoulder surgery that week. During last week, I went away to the Lakes so I didn't attend the two cup wins. Maybe that is the next sorry as I have only missed 3 games this season and guess what? Yes, Mossley always win when I'm not there!! Oh the dilemmas of life.
Back to the theme of sorry and what a catastrophic performance I returned to on Saturday. The first half was absolutely awful and Danny Trueman has taken a lot of criticism recently but without him the game would have been out of sight by half time as he pulled off two outstanding saves. Carl Fothergill almost had the penalty area to himself to net a simple opener. Danny Ryan netted a second just before the break, and there was still time for one of the misses of the season. It quite simply could have been 5-0 at the break and in reality, Ossett aren't a great side, but they play effectively to their strengths. I'm not actually sure what our strengths are and certainly we don't seem capable of playing to them. I think really playing the ball on the floor may be our strength but it doesn't seem to happen often enough.
The second half was pretty dire and in fact the kids lick around game on the other pitch was more entertaining. The game changed when Kirk Wheeler pressed the self destruct button. He must have wanted an early bath as there were 2 or 3 instances after receiving a yellow card that he displayed different forms of petulance. The ref (as poor as he was) decided enough was enough and after stopping Mossley taking a quick throw he saw red. (Well 2 yellows really)
An excellent cross from Lee Shillito saw substitute Turley halve the deficit and amazingly they equalized when a stunning drive by Furnival from outside the box almost broke the net. At this point there only seemed to be one winner but the ref had other ideas. Yes I know I'm biased but the tackle looked fair from Ward, but the man in black had other ideas, and the resulting penalty saw another disastrous finish to a game. (Prescot, Whitby..... How many more times will this happen?)
Despite the fightback, a reality check tells you that Mossley got what they deserved from this game, and coupled with other results we are now in the relegation zone. We need a wake up call unless we want to end up having another bash at being Division One champions. Fans have said for a while that there are worse sides than us in this division, but while we have been losing points at an alarming rate, some of these sides have gone past us. No midweek fixture may give the management a time to sort out some problems, but this will become apparent after 3:00 on Saturday, The FA Trophy tie will be a tricky test as Cammell Laird are in effect only a few places below us as they are riding high in Division 1. This game will be a definite banana skin, so hopefully the form of the previous Trophy game will return. Maybe I should go back to the Lakes!!!!
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Monday, October 16, 2006
Much better but only a point
Mossley 1 Hednesford Town 1
Well I'm not sure where to start as at 3.00 a point would have seemed brill but after the 90 minutes of football it was pretty disappointing to only take a point. There was a much changed side with the addition of David Eyres, James Turley, Lee Shillito and Chris Ward was also on the bench. The new faces gave the side a sharper look and they started well pushing forward, but disaster struck in only the fourth minute when with the defence all over the place after a Mossley attack, the ball ran loose to Ross Dyer but as he approached Trueman the Mossley stopper appeared to back away allowing Hednesford to take an early lead. Sadly this was far too similar to many recent occurences but it was probably the only time during the afternoon when the defence lacked concentration. Mossley encountered a tough afternoon and recent reports suggested that Hednesford were an uncompromising outfit but if that is the type of football that gets you to the fringes of promotion, then I'd rather be struggling. Their style seemed to consist of lump it forward and then chuck your elbows around and savage players in a manner that is certainly bordering on breaking the rules. Of course this style won't work if the officials are strong, but.......... (say no more!!)
Mossley were gaining some ascendency with the width of Eyres and Shillito, but were struggling to create openings due to the gigantic Hednesford defence. However, when the leveller opened it was worth the wait. Turley who had failed to net this season for Stalyvegas cut in and hit a thumping drive past Young.
The second half saw Mossley pushing forward but despite all the pressure didn't seem to quite have the ability to open up Hednesford. Whilst not enjoying the opposition's style of play, credit had to be given to their level of organisation. Mossley had a succession of corners but excellent defending and superb cross taking from Young kept the Lilywhites at bay. It seemed like the chance had finally come when Wright was fouled after being released by Ward but his weak spot kick was saved. The remaining minutes saw the game push from one end to another with the best chance falling to Joe Shaw deep into injury time when after a mazy run he slotted the ball over the bar.
A greatly improved performance and against lesser opposition would surely have seen three points. No disrespect but let's hope that Prescot are lesser opposition and we return with the points on Tuesday night.
Well I'm not sure where to start as at 3.00 a point would have seemed brill but after the 90 minutes of football it was pretty disappointing to only take a point. There was a much changed side with the addition of David Eyres, James Turley, Lee Shillito and Chris Ward was also on the bench. The new faces gave the side a sharper look and they started well pushing forward, but disaster struck in only the fourth minute when with the defence all over the place after a Mossley attack, the ball ran loose to Ross Dyer but as he approached Trueman the Mossley stopper appeared to back away allowing Hednesford to take an early lead. Sadly this was far too similar to many recent occurences but it was probably the only time during the afternoon when the defence lacked concentration. Mossley encountered a tough afternoon and recent reports suggested that Hednesford were an uncompromising outfit but if that is the type of football that gets you to the fringes of promotion, then I'd rather be struggling. Their style seemed to consist of lump it forward and then chuck your elbows around and savage players in a manner that is certainly bordering on breaking the rules. Of course this style won't work if the officials are strong, but.......... (say no more!!)
Mossley were gaining some ascendency with the width of Eyres and Shillito, but were struggling to create openings due to the gigantic Hednesford defence. However, when the leveller opened it was worth the wait. Turley who had failed to net this season for Stalyvegas cut in and hit a thumping drive past Young.
The second half saw Mossley pushing forward but despite all the pressure didn't seem to quite have the ability to open up Hednesford. Whilst not enjoying the opposition's style of play, credit had to be given to their level of organisation. Mossley had a succession of corners but excellent defending and superb cross taking from Young kept the Lilywhites at bay. It seemed like the chance had finally come when Wright was fouled after being released by Ward but his weak spot kick was saved. The remaining minutes saw the game push from one end to another with the best chance falling to Joe Shaw deep into injury time when after a mazy run he slotted the ball over the bar.
A greatly improved performance and against lesser opposition would surely have seen three points. No disrespect but let's hope that Prescot are lesser opposition and we return with the points on Tuesday night.
Friday, October 13, 2006
What can happen next?
Mossley 1 Witton Albion 2
Well the season just continues to move along and sadly in totally the wrong direction. Much has been written in the other blogs and I almost feel like I can't be bothered in writing anything. The team just seem devoid of direction and if things don't improve soon this season is going to be rather depressive, as within a fortnight two cup defeats could see the season over well before Winter hits. The players can't really be blamed as such as they must be questioning the current revolving door policy and must be wondering who is going to be next. The majority of the last two games have seen the game played with hardly any atmosphere and if this continues only the real hard core are going to be there. One must be careful aportioning blame after this match as some of the refereeing decisions were absolutely awful but this wasn't the reason for the defeat. While the first goal was the result of a Melford Knight tackle being given as a freekick, Witton could point to 2 disallowed goals which were dubious and one possible penalty appeal which was given as offside. The real crux is that this could have been a 3 or 4 goal drubbing and high flying Hednesford are the next visitors. By the end of this game, the available playing squad was down to 14, although the 3 recent additions will at least fill out the squad, but will there be more additions or will be there be goings before there are more comings? Only time will tell as to whether these are the type of signings we need, as players must be looking alarmingly at the comings and goings. The squad needs settling pretty quickly or else the big R must be looming. Also the rumours coming from Ashton and Telford don't fill one full of hope. I'm not giving you the details as if you can find this poor attempt at a blog you can also find this info. Knowing Mossley we'll pinch a win tomorrow against the odds.
Well the season just continues to move along and sadly in totally the wrong direction. Much has been written in the other blogs and I almost feel like I can't be bothered in writing anything. The team just seem devoid of direction and if things don't improve soon this season is going to be rather depressive, as within a fortnight two cup defeats could see the season over well before Winter hits. The players can't really be blamed as such as they must be questioning the current revolving door policy and must be wondering who is going to be next. The majority of the last two games have seen the game played with hardly any atmosphere and if this continues only the real hard core are going to be there. One must be careful aportioning blame after this match as some of the refereeing decisions were absolutely awful but this wasn't the reason for the defeat. While the first goal was the result of a Melford Knight tackle being given as a freekick, Witton could point to 2 disallowed goals which were dubious and one possible penalty appeal which was given as offside. The real crux is that this could have been a 3 or 4 goal drubbing and high flying Hednesford are the next visitors. By the end of this game, the available playing squad was down to 14, although the 3 recent additions will at least fill out the squad, but will there be more additions or will be there be goings before there are more comings? Only time will tell as to whether these are the type of signings we need, as players must be looking alarmingly at the comings and goings. The squad needs settling pretty quickly or else the big R must be looming. Also the rumours coming from Ashton and Telford don't fill one full of hope. I'm not giving you the details as if you can find this poor attempt at a blog you can also find this info. Knowing Mossley we'll pinch a win tomorrow against the odds.
Monday, October 09, 2006
The Good The Bad and The Ugly
Mossley 2 Whitby Town 0
Ilkeston Town 2 Mossley 1
Due to being busy at work etc.etc., this is a double header. Do you want the good news or the bad news? We'll start with the good news but only because that arrived first.
Mossley finally put in a performance at Seel Park and earned 3 points against Whitby Town to gain revenge for the unfortunate defeat against the same hosts the previous Saturday. Mossley began as they had finished the previous game against Whitby by attacking. Peter Wright looks an awesome signing and providing he is given the service there is an awful lot of goals in him. Campbell was also continuing his fine shot stopping from the weekend and you began to wonder if it was going to be one of these nights, especially when the half finished goal-less. Recently Mossley have often seemed incapable of picking up the pace after intervals and one may question if there is some secret ingredient in the half time cuppa from the dressing rooms. Maybe they need a huddle and some of SJNR's magic tea! Whitby came out quite well after the interval and you began to wonder but just before the hour mark a perfectly timed run from Steve Burke (or an awful decision from the assistant, although I thought he was onside and just outpaced the static Whitby defence) allowed him to open the scoring as he calmly slotted the ball home. The game continued with Mossley just about on top but starting to drop deeper but seemingly capable of holding out, but you just felt a second goal was needed. Whitby were reduced to 10 men when Farthing pulled Burke down and as last man the ref had no option really although the Whitby bench seemed to react as if it was the worst decision of the century. Whitby were rather fortunate not to finish with 9 men when Christian Cooke fell on the edge of the area and landed on a Whitby defender. As Cooke stood up Wilkinson shoved him and whilst it was not a punch it was certainly raised arms and he escaped with a yellow card. Punishment was still to come for Whitby as Peter Wright curled a superb freekick round the Whitby wall.
Right the bad news! Well no let's wait as it didn't arrive till about 3.15 on Saturday afternoon. Mossley started superbly at Ilson and were carving the hosts open with Cooke giving the full back a torrid time. One such opening saw a neat interchange with Wright who cut inside and shot home after five minutes. It really seemed like Mossley were turning the corner and could take 3 points on their travels but sadly games last for 90 minutes and not 9. However as news got round the ground that Bingham was being allowed to sign for Buxton, and Bowker had been released for his 'influence in the changing room', the buoyant start suddenly descended into an almost depressive atmosphere as fans started to question what was going on. The turnover of players is becoming rather alarming and when one looks at the current squad it contains only 16 players. The shame of all this is that the two mentioned players weren't solely responsible for the recent mini revival but they had been two key players.
Ilson equalized just past the quarter hour mark when Chris Adam netted. Mossley were being pushed a little too deep but Scott certainly saved Ilson with some fine goalkeeping. Paul Robinson (I thought he was playing for England actually) capitalised on sloppy marking by knocking the ball past Trueman. The second half was almost a non event as Mossley resorted to launching long balls and Ilson should have added more but even from the penalty spot seemed incapable of extending the lead.
Not sure if it's back to the drawing board or whether this was a blip. The squad needs an awful lot of strengthening over the coming weeks as recent departures have left the squad far too small for this league. Hopefully some new faces can arrive before Tuesday and even more important the form of the Whitby and Raccy Boro games can also return.
Ilkeston Town 2 Mossley 1
Due to being busy at work etc.etc., this is a double header. Do you want the good news or the bad news? We'll start with the good news but only because that arrived first.
Mossley finally put in a performance at Seel Park and earned 3 points against Whitby Town to gain revenge for the unfortunate defeat against the same hosts the previous Saturday. Mossley began as they had finished the previous game against Whitby by attacking. Peter Wright looks an awesome signing and providing he is given the service there is an awful lot of goals in him. Campbell was also continuing his fine shot stopping from the weekend and you began to wonder if it was going to be one of these nights, especially when the half finished goal-less. Recently Mossley have often seemed incapable of picking up the pace after intervals and one may question if there is some secret ingredient in the half time cuppa from the dressing rooms. Maybe they need a huddle and some of SJNR's magic tea! Whitby came out quite well after the interval and you began to wonder but just before the hour mark a perfectly timed run from Steve Burke (or an awful decision from the assistant, although I thought he was onside and just outpaced the static Whitby defence) allowed him to open the scoring as he calmly slotted the ball home. The game continued with Mossley just about on top but starting to drop deeper but seemingly capable of holding out, but you just felt a second goal was needed. Whitby were reduced to 10 men when Farthing pulled Burke down and as last man the ref had no option really although the Whitby bench seemed to react as if it was the worst decision of the century. Whitby were rather fortunate not to finish with 9 men when Christian Cooke fell on the edge of the area and landed on a Whitby defender. As Cooke stood up Wilkinson shoved him and whilst it was not a punch it was certainly raised arms and he escaped with a yellow card. Punishment was still to come for Whitby as Peter Wright curled a superb freekick round the Whitby wall.
Right the bad news! Well no let's wait as it didn't arrive till about 3.15 on Saturday afternoon. Mossley started superbly at Ilson and were carving the hosts open with Cooke giving the full back a torrid time. One such opening saw a neat interchange with Wright who cut inside and shot home after five minutes. It really seemed like Mossley were turning the corner and could take 3 points on their travels but sadly games last for 90 minutes and not 9. However as news got round the ground that Bingham was being allowed to sign for Buxton, and Bowker had been released for his 'influence in the changing room', the buoyant start suddenly descended into an almost depressive atmosphere as fans started to question what was going on. The turnover of players is becoming rather alarming and when one looks at the current squad it contains only 16 players. The shame of all this is that the two mentioned players weren't solely responsible for the recent mini revival but they had been two key players.
Ilson equalized just past the quarter hour mark when Chris Adam netted. Mossley were being pushed a little too deep but Scott certainly saved Ilson with some fine goalkeeping. Paul Robinson (I thought he was playing for England actually) capitalised on sloppy marking by knocking the ball past Trueman. The second half was almost a non event as Mossley resorted to launching long balls and Ilson should have added more but even from the penalty spot seemed incapable of extending the lead.
Not sure if it's back to the drawing board or whether this was a blip. The squad needs an awful lot of strengthening over the coming weeks as recent departures have left the squad far too small for this league. Hopefully some new faces can arrive before Tuesday and even more important the form of the Whitby and Raccy Boro games can also return.
Monday, October 02, 2006
Whitby Weekend
Whitby Town 3 Mossley 2
Lots of people said they were going for the weekend, but I didn't see any of them. Whitby was supposed to be pretty full due to a 60s weekend. On looking round this was unclear whether this was music from that era or was the age of most of the people there. Well I made it and stayed and I am definitely not 60!! How did I do it. Well despite it being the start of October (Well it was on Sunday) see below for my luxury home for the weekend.
I'm not sure if the owner of the campsite thought I had taken leave of my senses when shortly before 9pm on Friday night I arrived in a very dark field asking for room for two nights. Despite the appearance in the picture, there were other insane people in the field, but not too many.Once waking up on Saturday, it looked a decent decision as the weather certainly wasn't what one expected for the last day in September. So a stroll to Robin Hoods Bay was on the menu.
Anyway on to the middle of the afternoon where a football match actually happened and it was certainly the most entertaining game I have seen this season. Mossley finally looked like a Unibond Premier side and they really pressured Whitby early on. Whitby were struggling to cope with the pace of the Mossley attack as Bingham, Shaw and Wright with capable support from Cooke attacked the hosts. Many of the Whitby fans were livid as they constantly appealed for offside and while some calls could have gone either way, many times it was due to the pace of the Mossley attack and a rather slow Whitby backline. It came as no surprise when Mossley took the lead with a well taken goal from Joe Shaw. Whitby weren’t about to let Mossley have the game their own way and netted an equalizer through Tom Claisse. Peter Wright almost gave Mossley the lead straight after this but shot narrowly wide. Whitby got away with this one but two minutes later Joe Shaw netted his second of the game to give Mossley the lead again.
The second half saw Whitby turn the heat up and it was no surprise when they equalized again with Tom Raw (fish joke coming….. No I’ll leave it out!!!) firing past Trueman. Recently Mossley would have collapsed but the opposite happened and Mossley took the game to the hosts with some of the best passing football and movement I have seen from the current side. In fact it was more like the side that dominated proceedings back at the start of last season. Chance after chance went begging and great defending from Danny Farthing and some fine saves from David Campbell kept Whitby in the game.
It appeared like the moment had finally come though when an excellent weaving run from Peter Wright resulted in Campbell bringing him down in the penalty area but he redeemed himself with a great save from Wright’s penalty. You just knew it would happen when Farthing scored in stoppage time to give Whitby a rather undeserved victory which some of their own fans even admitted, although we did mug Burscough in a similar fashion at the end of August.
Many positives can be taken from this game, but in particular the pace of the attack and the midfield combination of Bowker and Knight looked formidable with Melford having possibly one of his best games in a Lilywhite shirt. Well it’s Whitby again on Tuesday and if the game is tackled with the same gusto and spirit then a three point haul could be ours, but this is football so anything could happen.
Well back to the weekend as I braved another night in my tent.
Not a wise decision as it rained nearly all night and I woke in a rather wet field, but as the fog and mist lifted a fairly pleasant day was had with a hike across the cliffs at Robin Hoods Bay. It rained again late on Sunday afternoon but I was on the way home by then.
Lots of people said they were going for the weekend, but I didn't see any of them. Whitby was supposed to be pretty full due to a 60s weekend. On looking round this was unclear whether this was music from that era or was the age of most of the people there. Well I made it and stayed and I am definitely not 60!! How did I do it. Well despite it being the start of October (Well it was on Sunday) see below for my luxury home for the weekend.
I'm not sure if the owner of the campsite thought I had taken leave of my senses when shortly before 9pm on Friday night I arrived in a very dark field asking for room for two nights. Despite the appearance in the picture, there were other insane people in the field, but not too many.Once waking up on Saturday, it looked a decent decision as the weather certainly wasn't what one expected for the last day in September. So a stroll to Robin Hoods Bay was on the menu.
Anyway on to the middle of the afternoon where a football match actually happened and it was certainly the most entertaining game I have seen this season. Mossley finally looked like a Unibond Premier side and they really pressured Whitby early on. Whitby were struggling to cope with the pace of the Mossley attack as Bingham, Shaw and Wright with capable support from Cooke attacked the hosts. Many of the Whitby fans were livid as they constantly appealed for offside and while some calls could have gone either way, many times it was due to the pace of the Mossley attack and a rather slow Whitby backline. It came as no surprise when Mossley took the lead with a well taken goal from Joe Shaw. Whitby weren’t about to let Mossley have the game their own way and netted an equalizer through Tom Claisse. Peter Wright almost gave Mossley the lead straight after this but shot narrowly wide. Whitby got away with this one but two minutes later Joe Shaw netted his second of the game to give Mossley the lead again.
The second half saw Whitby turn the heat up and it was no surprise when they equalized again with Tom Raw (fish joke coming….. No I’ll leave it out!!!) firing past Trueman. Recently Mossley would have collapsed but the opposite happened and Mossley took the game to the hosts with some of the best passing football and movement I have seen from the current side. In fact it was more like the side that dominated proceedings back at the start of last season. Chance after chance went begging and great defending from Danny Farthing and some fine saves from David Campbell kept Whitby in the game.
It appeared like the moment had finally come though when an excellent weaving run from Peter Wright resulted in Campbell bringing him down in the penalty area but he redeemed himself with a great save from Wright’s penalty. You just knew it would happen when Farthing scored in stoppage time to give Whitby a rather undeserved victory which some of their own fans even admitted, although we did mug Burscough in a similar fashion at the end of August.
Many positives can be taken from this game, but in particular the pace of the attack and the midfield combination of Bowker and Knight looked formidable with Melford having possibly one of his best games in a Lilywhite shirt. Well it’s Whitby again on Tuesday and if the game is tackled with the same gusto and spirit then a three point haul could be ours, but this is football so anything could happen.
Well back to the weekend as I braved another night in my tent.
Not a wise decision as it rained nearly all night and I woke in a rather wet field, but as the fog and mist lifted a fairly pleasant day was had with a hike across the cliffs at Robin Hoods Bay. It rained again late on Sunday afternoon but I was on the way home by then.
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