There was no glorious homecoming for Mossley as their first match at Seel Park for almost two months turned out to be the proverbial damp squib. And while they didn't lose, there was little to thrill the fans of either side on an afternoon in which the entertainment on offer can best be described as meagre.

The game actually started quite promisingly but following a frantic opening few minutes during which Dale Wright fired inches over the bar for the visitors, it rapidly descended into a succession of misplaced passes and petty fouls which constantly derailed any chance either side had of gaining some momentum.

Mossley's best opportunity of the half, purely because it was their only one, came midway through the opening period when Graham Kay lost his marker to divert a corner towards goal but it proved to be a comfortable save for Cables keeper Andy Paxton.

The home side should have been behind six minutes later when Aaron Rey broke free of the Lilywhites defence and skilfully took the ball around keeper Peter Collinge to leave himself with an empty net to roll the ball into. Unfortunately for Prescot but rather happily for Mossley, the forward chose to lash at his shot and in doing so sent the ball flying high over the open goal.

In terms of incident that was it for the first half and it didn't get any better in the second until with twenty minutes to go the game briefly sparked into a modicum of life again; Wright looped a shot onto the Mossley crossbar and both sides were fortunate not to be reduced in numbers as tempers momentarily flared.

The result though was to be ultimately decided by a mistake from both goalkeepers. In the 80th minute Collinge let a corner kick pass through his hands and ex-Mossley defender Tom Spearritt punished the error by firing the visitors into the lead with a low shot at the back post. The goal was the cue for some over exuberant scenes of celebration by the Cables goalkeeper in front of the Mossley fans but little did he know that karma would take only two minutes to come into effect.

That was the length of time that passed between the goal being scored and the point in the game where Paxton came to collect a cross, spilled his catch and, in the effort to redeem his error, scythed Andy Russell to the ground with an incredibly wild challenge from behind. The referee had little option other than to award a penalty and Paxton was rather more sheepish than he had been moments earlier as his team mates gave him an expletive laden critique of his actions.

In most other games Matty Kay's successful spot kick would probably have set-up a barnstorming finish. Sadly though this wasn't like most other games and the remainder of the match petered out in to the insipid midfield battle it had been for most of its running time.

The final whistle was greeted with an audible sigh of relief from the terraces and both sides will happy with a point from a game that neither could claim to have had the upper hand in.

Report by SJNR

pics by Smiffy