Tuesday 31st January 2006
@ Irongate, Bamber Bridge

Mossley
1. Lee Bracey (8)
2. Andy Thackeray (8)
3. Steve Sheil (7)
4. Nicky Thompson (8)
5. Danny Meadowcroft (c) (8)
6. Melford Knight (7)
7. Rhodri Giggs (7)
8. Martin Allison (8)
9. Jordan Goodeve (7)
10. Chris Downey (9)
11. Adam Morning (8)
subs
12. Joe Shaw (7)
(for Sheil 79 mins)
14. Joel Pilkington (7)
(for Allison 69 mins)
15. Callum Dempsey
(not used)

Scorers:
Mossley
Chris Downey (34 mins)
Chris Downey (50 mins)

Bamber Bridge
1. Bingham
2. Shephard
3. King
4. Bain (c)
5. Squires
6. Fletcher
7. Brown
8. Mahoney
9. Porter
10. Spencer
11. Ince
12. Sheppard
14. Bennett
15. Kent

Mossley were forced to dig deep to pull off a fine win at in form Bamber Bridge on Tuesday night thanks to two superb strikes by leading scorer Chris Downey.

Both sides played some great football and there was rarely a foul in game that ebbed and flowed as both teams looked to get the ball down and play football on a firm surface.

Bamber Bridge had the early possession but when Mossley attacked Downey went close on three occasions with half chances in the first fifteen minutes.

The claret & blues took the lead in the 34th minute. Martin Allison’s inch perfect free kick from deep on the left saw Chris Downey slip free of his marker, control the ball on his chest and blast the ball past the helpless home keeper Michael Bingham.

Adam Morning was causing havoc on the left and he and Downey were a constant thorn in the homesters side.

Mossley doubled the lead five minutes after the interval. Andy Thackeray’s angled pass found Chris Downey on the edge of the box. Downey’s skill wrong-footed two defenders before curling a great shot into the far corner with Bingham again beaten all ends up.

Bamber Bridge’s best move of the game resulted in them halving the arrears in the 58th minute. The ball was switched quickly from left to right where impressive winger Brown whipped in an early cross that was turned home by Alex Porter.

The home team then attempted to bomb Mossley into submission but the Mossley defence held firm and apart from a fine goal-line clearance by Danny Meadowcroft the Mossley goal remained unruffled.

Downey came close to completing his hat-trick on a couple of occasions but it was a solid performance by Mossley now sees the Lilywhites four points clear at the top of UniBond League Division One.