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.
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