Mossley (White & Black)

Wakefield (Blue)

Prior to kick-off it had been six years since Mossley had last won their final home game of a season.
And throughout the course of this ninety minutes against Wakefield it was a statistic that never looked like changing to anything other than seven.

The corresponding fixture of the 2007/08 campaign - a goal less draw which, coincidentally, was also against Wakefield - was possibly one of the most boring games witnessed at the Lilywhites home ground for many a year.  Twelve months on and this game looked like surpassing it in terms of tedium until a goal out of the blue put the visitors ahead in the 36th minute.

Not for the first time in the match a Wakefield attack looked to have run into a dead end but a ferocious effort from Adam Jones, stood well over thirty yards from goal, proved unstoppable as it swerved through the air towards the back of the net.

The crossbar and a subsequent goal line clearance prevented the Yorkshiremen from doubling their lead early in the second period but such was the scarcity of chances Mossley were creating that the one goal from Jones looked like being more than enough.

That was until a goal just after the hour mark, as equally unexpected as Wakefield's opener, pulled the Lilywhites level.  Michael Fish blocked an attempted clearance on the edge of the Wakefield penalty area and the ball looped into the path of the inrushing Mattie Kay, who hammered a low shot past Andy Woods on the half-volley.

Over the following few minutes Mossley had their best spell of the game but other than a Danny Egan header that dropped onto the roof of the net, they couldn't turn the pressure into anything significant and the momentum quickly fizzled out.

Just as many were expecting the game to end in a draw however Wakefield produced a second goal out of nothing to edge them back in front. Again it was another howitzer of a shot from distance that did the damage but on this occasion it was Paul Dempsey who launched the ball beyond the reach of Mossley keeper James Mann.

With the Lilywhites offering little in the way of a response to going behind for the second time in the match, Wakefield were able to play out the final fifteen minutes of the game with a comfort normally associated with sides who were three or four goals in front, not one.

Having now taken just one point from the last possible twelve, Mossley will be hoping for an upturn in fortunes and performances in their final two league games in order to end the season on something of a positive note.

Report by SJNR

pics by Garry Hadfield