Injury and suspension hit Mossley's current run of defeats continued at Seel Park on Saturday as Burscough came to town and made a smash and grab for the points with a goal in each half.

The Lilywhites gave debuts to recent signings, midfielder Matty Tierney and rookie defender Tom Dean while keeper Christian Thewlis made his Evo-stik League debut after Russ Saunders broke a finger in the Boxing Day loss to Bamber Bridge.

Mossley made a positive start as Richard Bennett blasted a 25 yard effort against the bar and John Bennett brought a decent save out of Burscough keeper John Bennett.

Mossley went on to dominate possession throughout the majority of the game but were hit by a 31st minute goal that came out of the blue and totally against the run of play as Mike Brown rifled an unstoppable shot from the edge of the box that rattled into the top corner of the Lilywhites net.

Richard Bennett was causing the visitors all sorts of problems but he lacked support as a lone striker with his strike partner Dougie Carroll serving a one match ban, meaning that the Lilywhites attacks lacked numbers and also the quality of delivery into the danger area lacked real quality.

Mossley continued to press after the break and looked the likeliest to score the next goal but it was not to be as in the 72nd minute James Short won a challenge with Mark Haslam on the right touchline and curled a long ball into the path of Luke Robinson who found himself clear of the Mossley defence and confidently fired into the bottom corner giving Thewlis no chance.

Mossley continued to fight to reduce the arrears and Burscough survived a couple of goalmouth scrambles but again the delivery into the danger areas lacked quality and the visitors held out to take the points in what has been a disappointing end to the Calendar year for the Lilywhites with a seventh straight defeat.

Report by Wizard