Mossley opened 2012 with an extremely well earned and wholly deserved draw deep into a dramatic ten minute stoppage time in a pulsating local derby at neighbours and League leaders Curzon Ashton on Monday afternoon.

Ben Richardson switched to left back following Steve Halford's departure with Ben McNamara returning to midfield in an otherwise unchanged starting line up but the afternoon ended badly for young dynamo McNamara who was the cause of the lengthy stoppage time following a serious looking injury that saw the game held up for several minutes before he was stretchered off and taken to hospital by ambulance.

Mossley opened brightly with Kayde Coppin forcing a save from Ollerenshaw and Osebi Abadaki making the usual nuisance of himself for the home defence but it was the home side who made the first breakthrough on 14 minutes when the ball dropped kindly for Kris Dennis to rifle home left footed in typical fashion from the edge of the box.

Curzon's lead was short lived though as a great run and pass by Abadaki gave Coppin a simple chance that he took well just two minutes later.

The game swung from end to end throughout the remainder of the half though clear chances were few but Curzon did hit the bar in the closing seconds of the half as the home side enjoyed their best spell of pressure.

The game continued in the same vein after the break with defences generally on top until Curzon edged ahead again on 53 minutes. ben Richardson brought down Dennis just inside the box and Chris McDonagh hammered home the resultant penalty kick.

Mossley were then hit by the injury to Mcnamara who was hurt while blocking a Curzon shot. After a lengthy break Mike Jones came on at right back with Cavell Coo switching to the left and Ben Richardson moving into a midfield role.

Richardson was soon in on the attacking action and was twice unlucky not to force an equalizer as was Tom Denton before the Lilywhites finally found the goal their overall performance deserved with five minutes left of the original ninety. Curzon failed to clear a Mossley attack and the ball broke to Lee Rick who fired home an excellent 25 yard volley that gave Ollerenshaw no chance.

The referee indicated a minimum of eight minutes added time and this sparked a hugely dramatic finale. Curzon brought on ex Mossley top scorer Matty Kay in place of Nightingale and two minutes later a cross from the right saw Kay direct a header that Collinge couldn't keep out and it looked like the points would rather fortunately go the home side's way.

However, for the third time in this enthralling contest Mossley found another equalizer. With the seconds ticking away former Mossley captain Graham Kay raced out to the wing and hacked down Cavell Coo. The challenge earned Kay a yellow card but he was lucky it wasn't red for what was a vicious lunge at his former Mossley team-mate. Justice was done though as Coo then fired in a low free kick from the touch line that Ollerenshaw fumbled and current Mossley skipper Peter Band was in the right place at the right time to hammer home the loose ball and give Mossley a fully deserved share of the spoils.

Report by Wizard

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