Mossley's poor first half form culminated in conceeding two soft goals before the break which were converted by Carl Fothergill in the 23rd minute and Danny Ryan four minutes before the interval. Sandwiched in between the goals Danny Trueman was called on to make a couple of brilliant saves to deny Fothergill and Andy Hayward.

The Lilywhites played much better after the break and when Ossett's Kirk Wheeler was dismissed for a second bookable offence Mossley finally grabbed the mantle and took charge of the game. The arrears were reduced when Shillito whipped in a low cross from the right that saw the diminutive James Turley glance home a close range header on 71 minutes.

Five minutes later Mossley were level. David Eyres and Shillito worked a short corner on the right. The latter crossed to the far corner of the box where Gary Furnival flashed a thunderous shot into the far corner that gave Bennett no chance.

Gary Furnival . . first goal in a Mossley shirt

There looked to be only one winner at that stage and Mossley were denied a certain penalty when Wright was clearly tugged down inside the box and an obvious corner in the same move when Turley knocked the ball against a defenders legs.

The referee's erratic decision making was compounded two minutes from time when he awarded the home side a penalty when Chris Ward's cover tackle which saw him clearly win the ball resulted in a spot kick that Fothergill just about converted despite Trueman's valiant effort to save.

Mossley's misery was completed after the final whistle when Melford Knight and Chris Ward were both red carded for challenging the referee's decision making as the players left the field at the end.