Dougie Carroll was Mossley’s hero at Seel Park on Tuesday night as he bagged a hat-trick to help see off the dogged resistance of an enthusiastic and hard working Prescot Cables side.

It proved to be an entertaining end to end game with Cables belying their lowly placing with a strong and direct display that caused Mossley plenty of problems, particularly in the first half.

The visitors dominated the opening exchanges with young strikers Robert Doran and Connor McCarthy causing plenty of problems. Chances came and went for Cables in the opening twenty minutes as Mossley struggled to gain a foothold in the game.

That all changed in the 21st minute though. Louis Horne sliced the Cables defence with a through ball and Dougie Carroll got to the ball before the advancing keeper Adam Reid who could do nothing more than trip the Lilywhites striker. Carroll picked himself up to fire home the resultant penalty.

Mossley now took control of the game and started to play with more confidence. The passing became sharper around the midfield and chinks started to open in the visitors defence.

It looked like a second goal for Mossley would kill the game but it didn’t come and Mossley were made to pay in the opening minute of the second half when Russ Saunders sliced a clearance. Doran latched onto it and struck the bar with his first shot only for the ball to come back into his path and he made no mistake with the rebound.

Mossley were not stunned for long though and regained the lead within three minutes. Simon Gallanders overhead through ball sent Carroll scampering through a gap and the teenage sensation confidently slotted the ball past the stranded Reid.

Luke McCarthy had a great chance to settle the issue but his effort from the right channel struck the far post and Mossley were again made to pay as Cables came back again. Veteran defender Ged Murphy scoring from a seemingly impossible angle after Mossley had failed to clear a set piece.

Again Cables joy was short lived as two minutes later the Lilywhites took the lead for the third time. Tom Pratt fed Carroll down the right channel. The Mossley hot-shot still had plenty to do as he cut inside the last defender but he opened the space up brilliantly and gave Reid no chance when completing his first hat-trick for the club.

Andy Keogh then struck a post as Mossley looked to put the game to bed. However, as the game went into stoppage time. Prescot won a corner on the right. Keeper Reid went up to join the attack but soon regretted it. Saunders caught the cross and threw quickly out to Carroll on the left wing. Carroll moved forward with the ball as Reid chased frantically back but was given no chance as Carroll squared to right back Mark Haslam who had ran the length of the field to receive a simple close range tap in to seal both the result and the points for the Lilywhites.

Report by Wizard