Saturday 4th March 2006
@ Victoria Pleasure Grounds, Goole

Mossley
1. Lee Bracey
2. Nicky Thompson
3. Steve Sheil
4. Paul Challinor
5. Danny Meadowcroft (c)
6. Melford Knight
7. Rhodri Giggs
8. Martin Allison
9. Paul Garvey
10. Chris Downey
11. Adam Morning
subs
12. Jordan Goodeve
(for Garvey 45 miniutes)
14. Joe Shaw
(for Downey (60 minutes)
15. Joel Pilkington
(for Allison 70 minutes)

Goole
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Referee:

Mossley’s penultimate excursion east along the M62 this season saw them travel to face a relegation threatened Goole side that had lost their last four home league games, conceding 17 goals in the process. Not only was there the possibility of Mossley doing their goal difference some good but, along with Kendal’s game with Gresley being postponed, they also had the opportunity to widen the gap at the top of the league to ten points. Well that was what was hoped for aim but as we all know, the road to Hull is paved with good intentions…

Chances were very few and very far between as both sides spent the majority of the time taking it turns to hand over possession to one another in midfield. Goole offered little threat other than the occasional shot from distance whilst Mossley barely fared any better, unable to spring the home sides offside trap with any degree of success.

Before the half drew to a close the game briefly spluttered into life when a ridiculously misjudged back pass by Jimmy Gore gave Paul Garvey the ball with only the keeper to beat but the Mossley forward snapped at his shot when he had more time than he probably realised. At the other end of the pitch Lee Bracey pulled off a superb point blank save to deny Alex Nesovic in the dying seconds of the first period.

Thankfully, for the Mossley contingent at least, things did improve in the second half. Goole’s offside trap began to look increasingly shaky as the Lilywhite’s started to time their forward runs better and open up the space behind the home defence. Rhodri Giggs was the first to benefit and he should have done better than to send his shot into the side netting with the keeper back-pedalling and a team mate unmarked on the penalty spot. Melford Knight was unfortunate to see his header from a corner cannon off the post and start a goal line melee, and Giggs rolled the ball along the crossbar with a near post flick.

Mossley continued to dominate the game but a combination of poor delivery and a lack of movement in the final third of the field hampered their attempts to trouble the scoreline. Goole’s best opportunity came when they broke quickly from a Mossley set piece only for the referee to drag the play back because of a leg injury to Goole captain Godwin Douglas. Not long after Giggs appeared to have worked a one-on-one opportunity for himself only for the assistant referee’s flag to halt proceedings for an offside despite a Goole player playing him on by a good four to five yards.

With Mossley doing most of the pressing Goole took every opportunity they could to slow the game down; throw-ins took forever, free kicks longer and as goal kicks happened with all the brevity of a Wagnerian opera. The worst though was the Goole left back’s attempt to get a last minute Oscar nomination. Sadly the referee fell for a performance that would have been laughed out of a pantomime audition for being too hammy and a promising Mossley move was brought to an abrupt halt.

The final chance of the game fell to the visitors with ten minutes left and came courtesy of the three J’s on the bench. Joe Shaw found Jordan Goodeve who in turn pinged the ball across edge of the six yard box to where a full stretch Joel Pilkington was only millimetres away from diverting it into the open net.

It was one of those games where you feel that if the final whistle had never blown and they were continuing to play, the score would still be 0-0. It’s a score line that will certainly disappoint Mossley but it’s one that certainly delighted Goole as the home side left the pitch to wild scenes of celebration in the stands and on the terraces. Other than spontaneous human combustion goodness knows what they would have done if they’d actually won! And maybe that in itself is the biggest clue as to the answer to the question of whether its two points lost or a point gained.