Nine man Mossley were denied maximum points at in-form Warrington Town on Saturday by a goal five minutes into stoppage time in what was a scrappy game played in a stiff breeze on a bumpy Cantilever Park surface.

Mossley boss Steve Halford was able to name an unchanged starting line up for the first time since he took over with the only changes coming amongst the substitutes with Dave Young and latest signing Steven Yarwood replacing Ben Fallows and the injured Mike Jones on the bench.

Mossley opened the brighter playing into the breeze, Nathan Neequaye heading over from a corner and Ben Richardson striking the outside of the post when well placed.

Warrington edged into the game and had plenty of possession but their attacking play was careless and they were guilty of wasting some good positions by poor decision making.

Mossley had the ball in the net just after the half hour when Halford forced the ball home from a right wing corner. The referee Mr Gratton, who had a frankly awful game, was well placed and awarded a goal but then allowed his assistant to overrule him claiming a push by Halford despite Mr Gratton being around 30 yards closer to the alleged incident.

Mr Gratton was extremely lenient with some of Warrington's underhanded tactics while Mossley appeared to be punished for the most trivial offence. Not least when Keil O'Brien was yellow carded for questioning yet another poor decision.

Mossley finally got the goal they deserved a minute before the interval. Richardson's right wing corner reached the surprisingly unmarked Tom Denton at the far post and the big Mossley striker fired home from close range.

The second half saw Mossley defend deeper, allowing Warrington to come on to them but the Mossley defence was as solid as a rock and Warrington were constantly denied any real sight of Martin Pearson's goal.

The turning point came in the 70th minute when O'Brien mis-timed a tackle and was dismissed for a second yellow card offence. Dave Young replaced Neequaye with Denton left as a loan front runner.

Ben Richardson might have doubled Mossley's lead in an increasingly rare Mossley foray forward but after bursting through a defensive gap his shot was turned away for a corner by home keeper Pritchard.

The game's most controversial moment came in the 80th minute when Cavell Coo and Warrington defender Michael Duffy both stretched for a challenge. Mr Gratton then bizarrely dismissed both players when yellow cards and a chat would have easily sufficed.

The ninety minute mark passed with Mr Gratton failing to signal how much minimum stoppage time he would play and after awarding Warrington a string of free kicks, the home side finally found an equaliser five minutes over the ninety when substitute Dylan Glass scored through a crowded box to break Mossley's hearts and a deny the Lilywhites that elusive first League victory of 2012.

Report by Wizard