For the fourth time in five games a goal from Lee Blackshaw turned out to be the decisive moment in a Mossley match as not even the disadvantage of playing for almost an hour with ten men could stop the Lilywhites from recording their fifth successive victory.

The home side took a 6th minute lead when centre half Graham Kay found himself in the unusual position of being the furthest man forward in a Mossley attack. Some patient build-up play from Ben Richardson and Jordan Goodeve found a perfectly timed run into the box by Chris McDonagh and his low cross was met by Kay who stooped to head the ball home.

At this point Mossley looked like scoring every time they ventured forward and when Blackshaw was hauled to the ground inside the penalty area in the 12th minute, they were awarded the opportunity increase their lead from the spot. Unfortunately for the Lilywhites Steve Moore's effort from twelve yards wasn't the best penalty he's ever taken and Ben Saynor was able to make a good, if somewhat comfortable, save.

The miss appeared to take the wind out of Mossley's sails and for the remainder of the half they struggled to rediscover the form that, with some better finishing, could have seen them end the game as a contest within the opening quarter of an hour. Admittedly their cause wasn't helped when Kay was shown a straight red card for retaliating to a dangerous looking challenge from Shane Kelsey but it didn't hinder them either as, barring one good claim for a penalty when Nathan James was bundled over by keeper Peter Collinge, Ossett failed to pose any kind of threat to the numerically challenged home side in the first period.

The second half started with Michael Fish and McDonagh both going close to doubling an advantage that was eventually, and surprisingly, cancelled out in the 57th minute. A mini period of pressure which began with Kelsey hitting the upright from a free-kick ended with Andy Brownrigg heading past Collinge following a dead ball kick taken in almost exactly the same spot.

Rather than being a catalyst for the Yorkshire side to go forward in search of a winner though, the equaliser re-galvanized Mossley and ten minutes later they were back in front; substitute Steve Settle's low ball across the six yard box having been directed into the net by Blackshaw. A third and fourth goal went agonisingly close to being added over the next two minutes as Richardson fired narrowly wide of an upright that Settle hit moments later with a venomous shot.

At this stage you began to wonder which side had actually been reduced in number as Mossley continued to press forward in search of more goals. McDonagh missed a golden opportunity to have sealed the win when he hit the crossbar from only two yards out and Saynor produced a good recovering save after his handling error almost presented Nathan Neequaye with a similarly gilt edged chance.

The match reached its conclusion with the Lilywhites only having to endure one minor scare before they could claim a deserved win against their lacklustre opponents.

Report by SJNR

Pics by Sara P. Robinson