Unlucky defeat

Mossley 0 Fleetwood Town 1

Mossley were unlucky in this game as they took the game to Fleetwood but couldn't put the ball away with Danny Hurst pulling off some great saves. We also fell victim to our penalty curse missing the fifth penalty (I think) on the trot. If we get another maybe we should give it to SAS or Furnival and ask them to leather it! We can't give up yet but the gap is looking a little worrying with only one home game left.

M&M runs at the Fleetwood defence.

Danny Hurst shows safe hands.

Christian Cooke dominates the midfield.

Hurst saves the penalty.........

but the ball runs loose but no goal was scored.

SAS clears the ball.


Brackenbridge tries to create an opening.

The ball still won't go in!!!!!!


Even putting Smith up front doesn't net a goal.


The Fleetwood back line certainly had their lucky moments.


Mossley v Fleetwood Town : Flickr Album

Welcome 3 points

Saturday 31st.March

Mossley 3 Grantham 2

A welcome 3 points which despite 5 goals certainly wasn't a thriller. Mossley were cruising to an easy win but the ref decided to even things up by awarding two late dodgy penalties. I suppose we shouldn't have wound him up so much!!

The Turley dance move may take off yet!!

Mossley clear their lines.

M&M shoots wide.

Another successful clearance.

Melford almost heads in at the far post.

M&M chases the ball.

Mossley v Grantham : Flickr Album

FA Vase Semi Final

Saturday 24th March

Curzon Ashton 1 Truro City 0

Decided to miss Mossley today and go to Curzon as my only visit there since the new ground was on a sponsored walk. Curzon missed a big chance as when Truro went down to 10 men they could have been there for the taking and although this is written with hindsight, a 1-0 lead was never going to be enough to take to Cornwall.

Curzon Ashton v Truro City : Flickr Album

Sunk again

Saturday 3rd.March

Mossley 1 Marine 3

This must be the longest time ever for uploading photos after a match!!! In facts it's so long ago, I can't even remember what happened apart from dropping more points at home.

Mossley v Marine : Flickr Album

More Dropped Points

Mossley 1 North Ferriby Utd 2

NFU clear their lines during the first half.

Nothing happening this time.

Another cross that resulted in nothing.

This would make a good 'Spot the Ball' with a bit of Photoshop.

These pictures make it look as if we dominated the first half! Blame the cameraman.

Melford goes closer.


The kitchen sink approach comes to nothing,

Where's that ball?

Mossley v North Ferriby Utd - Flickr Album

2 points dropped / 1 point won ??

Mossley 0 Prescot Cables 0

David Eyres prepares to shoot.


Joel Pilkington brings the ball forward.

Prescot goalkeeper McMahon prepares to gather another cross.

The over worked Mossley defence (1st Half) attempts to clear the decks.

McMahon gathers the ball again.


Mossley almost sneak in front just before half time.


Mossley v Prescot Cables : Flickr Album

Three Points!

Leek Town 1 Mossley 2

Changes

I was thinking of stopping the blog altogether as I just haven't got the time. Also, we have two excellent blogs out there plus of course Mossleyweb. However, I had second thoughts and decided to turn it into a photo blog. Now the success of that will depend upon the light but hopefully over the coming few weeks things should improve. Sadly my camera has very poor light levels so if floodlights are on (which shouldn't be a problem too often on Saturdays now) most of my shots are a blur. The option would be a new camera but as I've just treated myself to a new iPod funds won't allow for a while.

Seven Up At Seel Park

Mossley 3 AFC Telford 4

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!!

Hallelujah!!

Frickley Athletic 0 Mossley 4

Yes look again that score is correct despite the plethora of texts I received at about 3.45 checking that Sky hadn't got the numbers the wrong way round for the half time score. The only downer was that a combination of the lights at Frickley, my camera and/or my photographic skills resulted in no photos of the glorious second coming of Jesus Christ (sorry I mean the arrival of another miracle in a 90 minute Mossley performance.)

So to avoid a photo free blog I had to make use of the TV.



The first goal arrived in only the second minute when many Mossley fans were still walking round the ground and I was met with a few expletives when cheering in the middle of a pile of Frickley supporters. (There must be a name for a collection of Frickley fans but my brain is tired this morning.) It was a neatly worked goal as Ward headed the ball across the goal for Turley to tap in at the far post. However, we had been here before only on Boxing Day so keep calm was the motto. This time though Mossley didn't decide to sit back and try and hold onto a 1-0 lead but continued playing football and Frickley looked totally devoid of ideas. I can recognise this from quite a few recent games but at least the ball was on the other foot this time.

The second goal was deserved for the pressure being exerted although there was a little fortune as Turley's shot deflected and looped into the net. This goal really seemed to drain Frickley and give Mossley some confidence. Mossley amazingly went into a 3 goal lead just before the break and the way this went in made you wonder if it would be their day as a Shillito cross clipped Giblin for a bizarre own goal. Even more amazing was that the usual half time Mogadon effect after half time wasn't there and Turley almost completed a hat-trick early in the second half. Just past the hour mark neat interplay gave Peter Wright a tap in at the far post. However, somebody at the game failed to recognise the difference between Wright and Furnival and the Unibond website had the huge centre half as the scorer. Well I suppose there's not much difference between a 5'6 striker and a 6'4 central defender!! In fairness, Frickley didn't give up and debutant keeper Steve Wilson pulled off a spectacular save to maintain a clean sheet. Well done to all the players and let's hope the weather holds out and the game at Ashton Utd is played on New Years Day as we need to keep the momentum gained from this performance going. Also, well done for thanking the fans for their support.

A few stats from the archives after this match.

First clean sheet (in the league) since : Oct 3rd

First win (in the league) since : Oct 3rd

First away win since : Sep 26th

First 4 goal haul since : Dec 10th 2005!!

Merry Christmas

Mossley 1 Ashton Utd 2

On leaving the car, a supporter said to me that nothing had spoiled their Christmas and with a hint of sarcasm I suggested that maybe he shouldn't enter the ground but even SJNR was positive before the game. Just one win I thought to kick start the season and hopefully move towards safety.

The game started with Mossley looking rather upbeat and the ball was being knocked down the flanks and David Eyres sitting in central midfield providing an excellent anchor role and his passing looked like opening up the Ashton defence. The match got off to a wonderful start when a foul wide on the right gave Mossley a freekick. Eyres swung the ball in and nobody seemed capable of either clearing or scoring and the ball crept into the far corner of Lee Bracey's net.


This was just what the Lilywhites needed and maybe the flowing football could see a comfortable 3 or 4 goal home win to show that Mossley do belong in the Unibond Premier. Get out those smelling salts and stop being stupid!!

After about 10 minutes of excellent flowing football somebody decided to change everything. Whether this came from the bench or the players no-one knows, but suddenly Mossley resorted to the old hoof ball game plan and this was despite Ashton's bizarre game plan of playing Kharas on his own against the Mossley back four. However before criticising this plan the Ashton front man was giving the whole back four the run around. With Furnival suspended there seemed no leadership amongst the back line and Danny Trueman was having a nightmare and looked like he had a new pair of gloves that had been used for basting the turkey or something the day before. In fairness, coupled in with this he did pull off a couple of oustanding saves just before the break to keep Mossley ahead. One started to wonder if Mossley would hang on for a nervy 1-0 win but there was still an awfully long way to go.


The writing was on the wall as soon as the second half started as the team came out looking unhappy and the body language as they emerged from the tunnel didn't look promising. Ashton took the game to Mossley and the home side continued their strange route one attack to two small strikers. Another bizarre decision was when Melford Knight came on as a substitute at the beginning of the second half wearing the armband. I know he is the official club captain (and that could be a blog entry by itself) but surely Eyres should have kept the armband for the whole match unless he was substituted. The rumour doing the rounds after was that Eyres had played his last match for the Lilywhites and one wondered if this decision had any bearing on his state of mind. It came as no surprise when Ashton levelled the score from the penalty spot. Some may have debated the decision but when a defender lunges in the penalty area the result is often going to be a spot kick. Baker slotted the ball past Trueman and in reality one felt that there was only going to be one result and ten minutes or so later it arrived.


In fairness, it was a great goal as former Latics player Danny Forde drove a great shot from the edge of the area although one felt the lack of tackles made his job easier. The rest of the game saw a similar game plan as Ashton tried to finish the game off and Mossley just lumped it. The team look devoid of ideas and at the moment the big R words is more than being on the horizon. Mention must be made of the effort from young Steve Burke who chased everything from the first minute to the last and some players need to look at this. It's all very well chasing for the first 10-15 minutes when things are looking rosy but if we are to get out of this mess we need players who will roll up their sleeves and Burke is certainly one of these.


Where do we go from here? In honesty it's Division One as a 10 point gap is probably a bridge too far. To escape we need a return to the flowing football from early last season and that won't be easy as we play on heavy pitches over the next few weeks. We also need Championship winning form and by that I don't mean the form that won us the league last season, as that won't do it. We could start praying regularly but I don't even think that will suffice. It sounds very negative but if I think like this anything else will be a bonus.

The Titanic

Mossley 1 Frickley Athletic 2

Haven't blogged for a while as have have had to miss a few games. As for my title, that ship was unsinkable as supposedly are Mossley as we have only played badly twice (or is that we only play badly Home and Away)and should be in 4th place pushing for promotion. What a load of (insert the correct word youself!)

Having not witnessed the Brisco era I wondered what I would see having not seen a game for the best part of 4 weeks. I was actually surprised as Mossley started rather upbeat and were rather unfortunate not to take an early lead. The game changed midway through the first half with a diabolical decision. Many fans would be unaware but The Bus Shelter was the perfect viewpoint and the board should have gone up with at least a 5.8 on. Debutant Smith did go to ground trying to win the tackle and if I had a pound for every time I heard some expert say defenders need to stay on their feet I would be a rich man, but there was no need for the Frickley player to dive over the tackle. That sort of thing is saved for Manchester derbies, or certainly on this weekend so I thought. This goal knocked Mossley but going back to the Premiership, there probably wasn't a better goal scored in that league than Frickley's second. Matthew Taylor's 45 yard belter for Portsmouth could be an argument for this point but what I am saying is that Frickley's second was spectacular. The defending was rather naive but the curling effort from Ward was unsavable. This left Mossley with the proverbial mountain to climb and this was before the traditional second half slump after the half time Mogadon.

Another surprise here as Mossley gave a slightly more spirited performance and pulled a goal back through Peter Wright. It seemed like a very valuable point would be gained when a late penalty was awarded but the penalty jinx continued as Ward's effort was saved. I think that's 3 penalties on the run missed and too many were missed last season. Is this bad luck or something else?

The season is entering a worrying period as safety is looking tricky and with the double header looming aginst Ashton Utd points are needed quickly. There will be a few Ashton players determined to show the Mossley management how they can play but in reality 6 points are needed. Despite the turnover more players are needed to steady the ship or we will be the Titanic, but these need to be the right signings for Mossley. Sorry it's so gloomy but what else can be said with no league wins since early October. I suppose there is the mighty Manchester Premier Cup but we'll probably lose to Flixton or Glossop the way things are at the moment.

Motivation

Now is this aimed at the team or me!! Just never got round to writing a report for the Kendal game and there's no point now with plenty of reports or forum comments out there. I am concerned about the direction we are moving as that big R word is looming. We are entering a very crucial period with a tough league game tomorrow, a cup game at Fleetwood midweek which could keep the season alive (or almost finish it) and a crunch bottom of the table 6 pointer next weekend. If we come out of the next few days with nothing, well ..................??? What do we do then?

However, the good news is I'm not going tomorrow so apart from giving me a perfect excuse for not writing a rambling report, I have missed 3 games this season :

Grantham 1 Mossley 2
Mossley 5 Lincoln 1
Mossley 1 Salford 0

So, the great news is that the Lilywhites will therefore return from Staffordshire with 3 points. For those going, enjoy the game, and hopefully our new midfielder will provide the impetus that has been missing from that area for an awfully long time.

Deja Vous

Cammell Laird 2 Mossley 1

Ever get the feeling you've been here before - Whitby, Prescot, Ossett to name a few. By this I'm just rambling about last minute goals. The deja vous also continues to the left hand side of Mossley's defence. Basically there is a gaping hole that isn't being filled and unless it is sorted soon this gaping hole will be visible in other parts of the North West next season such as Woodley or Clitheroe. I don't really need to say any more. I am utterly and totally p***ed off with what's going on. Lessons aren't being learnt and yesterday's defeat was embarrasing. I know in effect Cammell Laird are only a few places below us but they were nothing special. We won Division 1 last season losing 10 games and looking at CL as one of the front runners makes me realize that the league is probably no stronger this season.

Mossley started the game looking reasonable and once it was obvious that the Cammell Laird goalkeeper was having one of those days we should have capitalized. The first goal arrived after a spell of passing football that resulted in a mishit shot from Melford Knight being spilled and Eyres was on hand to slot home. At this point the lead was just about deserved but you knew one goal wouldn't be enough, as clean sheets and Mossley are about as rare as Channel M news reports without the mention of FC ***. There were some rather rough tackles going on and the rather lenient officials were allowing a lot of off the ball stuff to happen. The second half saw the side shuffled around too much and the disjointed play allow Cammell Laird to start to take control and it was no surprise when McGuire drove home from the Mossley left. (Yes I know!!)
Despite the way the game was turning it seemed that Mossley would hang on and force a replay on Tuesday night, but the referee had other ideas. For some inexplicable reason as the defender climbed all over Peter Wright a free kick was awarded against him. However, that is not an excuse for what followed as hesitant defending saw Mossley dumped out of the FA Trophy and also throw away the chance of £2000 prize money. Never mind we can always concentrate on the league or to put it correctly concentrate on staying in the league.

It's all rather depressing at the moment and one wonders how we can get out of this slump. Maybe the gaping hole already mentioned could be filled in, but Saturday could certainly be interesting as we come across our friends from Kendal who have also hit a bit of a slump and were also dumped out of the FA Trophy.