A dreadful start to the game for out of sorts Mossley saw the Lilywhites slump to a 3-0 defeat at play off chasers Farsley on a bone hard bumpy surface on Saturday afternoon.

Mossley boss Steve Halford made changes from the Fylde game with Tom Denton, Keil O'Brien and Ben Richardson all returning to the starting line up with Steven Yarwood an injury absentee.

The game could hardly have started worse for Mossley as they found themselves two goals behind after only seven minutes against the side who have won more home games than anyone else in the Division.

Farsley's first attack in the 3rd minute brought them a penalty when Keil O'Brien upended Duncan Williams and home centre forward Ben Jones slammed home the resultant penalty kick.

Four minutes later Farsley were two ahead when Williams was allowed far too much space to play a low ball into the box for Adam Muller to score from close range with the Mossley defence flat footed.

The game settled into a scrappy affair with the majority of the 50/50 decisions seemingly going Farsley's way as Mossley struggled to gain any kind of foot-hold in the game. In fact Mossley didn't manage a single shot in the first half while the home side fared little better although Farsley's approach play had far more cohesion with veteran midfielder Bambrook spraying passes and Farsley front two Jones and Grant proving a handful for Band and O'Brien.

Mossley replaced Kyle McGonigle with Joe Heap at half time with Ben Richardson switching to a central midfield role and Mossley enjoyed more possession and for the first time started to look threatening going forward. Tom Denton fired wide and Lee Rick did the same a few minutes later as Mossley finally found some kind of rhythm.

Farsley killed the game though in the 55th minute when Jones tapped home from close range as the ball ricocheted across the box following a left wing corner.

Danny Queeley replaced Mark Haslam soon after and the Mossley substitute was soon in the thick of the action with a couple of good runs that caused Farsley some consternation but scoring chances were at a premium as the experienced and physical hosts comfortably held Mossley at bay.

Steve Halford brought himself on in place of Richardson with ten minutes remaining and the Mossley player boss twice went close with headers, while at the other end Muller nearly scored a fourth for Farsley when his looping effort bounced off the angle with Pearson stranded.

It will be a performance and result that Steve Halford and his team will quickly want to put behind them with the Easter double bill of Skelmersdale and Cammell Laird coming up next weekend.

Report by Wizard