Well what an afternoon. Yes, entertainment and Seel Park went hand in hand for the first time for ages. One wouldn't have thought that during the first 10 minutes as the league leaders ripped into Mossley. The heavy pitch didn't stop a passing movement from the Shropshire outfit as Steve Foster fired the ball home. Worse was to follow as Marsden doubled the lead and rather concerningly the lack of markers was almost laughable apart from it was our team. At this point one feared the worst as Telford were cutting the Lilywhites to pieces and there were visions of them repeating their 5 goal mauling of Ashton on another Tameside visit for them. In fact, scores worse than this were being conjured up by many. Marsden should have made the game safe when he headed wide with a chance that looked easier to score with. However, something seemed to happen and viewpoints here will depend upon whether you view the bottle as half full or half empty. I believe Telford stepped off the gas a little but in fairness Mossley did take advantage of this. Despite their excellent defensive record, Telford were looking shaky at the back as Knight and Eyres pushed the midfield forward, with surging runs from Joe Shaw also causing the leaders problems. The lead was halved when Turley stabbed home after Cooke had knocked the ball across goal. However, the half turned with an amazing goal from Nicky Thompson. Now how do I describe this goal? Ronaldinho v Seamen in the World Cup could be said but this was even more skilful as our right back managed to move the ball more times than a Shane Warne delivery as he launched it from just inside the attacking half and netted a remarkable equalizer.
Cynics may say that the wind got hold of the ball but I'll leave that up to you!! Suddenly, there was a belief in Mossley which belied their league position and Telford were all over the place and it came as no surprise when Mossley took the lead as Brock saved an Eyres shot and Knight knocked home the rebound. However, this goal did seem to have some fortune as Shaw seemed to rob the ball at a freekick and was somehow allowed to continue. I am using eye witness reports here as I was expecting the Telford freekick to land somwhere in the Mossley so was looking in that direction only to look up and see the impish Shaw running towards the Telford penalty area. This was not the only gaff from the officials who seemed totally inept throughout the afternoon but more of that later. So,that left Mossley leading 3-2 at half time, but the dreaded half time lull would now hit and there was nothing we could do. We knew what would happen as Mossley vainly tried to hold onto the lead. This was a strange decision as watching Telford arguing amongst themselves as they left the field at half time saw that there was a little unrest amongst the camp. I believe if we had gone for it in the first 15 mins after the break they were there for the taking, but sadly once Telford were allowed to gain impetus it was a struggle. The equalizer came early in the second half, but concerningly it was a mistake all too familiar recently as Turley was left exposed on the flank and Vaughan netted from a narrow angle. As the half progressed one hoped that a point could be gained but substitute Robinson had a great chance to win the game for Mossley but his tame header didn't allow him to be the matchwinner. A late freekick for Telford saw the controversial winner as Steve Wilson made a great save but the rebound was pushed over him by Gary Birch. This was never a goal but you just knew it was coming. Yes, it was diabolical refereeing but so was our third goal. Positives can be taken from this game though as the fightback showed that this Mossley side can battle when necessary.
We need to realise what a fright we gave the leaders and surely we are going to play worse sides than Telford. However, the only way we will escape the big R is to believe in ourselves and start attacking teams. This needs to start against Flixton tonight. This won't be a problem as I can't make it tonight (I will bring a note from my Mum on Saturday) and the previous Seel Park cupties I have missed resulted in 5-1 and 1-0 victories. The former would be nice but I'm sure we would all take the latter.By the time you read this, you will all know the answer anyway, unless you're an armchair fan!!
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