Mossley romped to a comfortable victory over old rivals Witton Albion at Seel Park on Tuesday night.

With Albion's newly appointed manager Carl McAuley watching on from the stands, he will surely realise he has a big jon ahead as the visitors, clearly lacking in confidence, were taken apart by an in form Mossley side who made it five wins on the bounce with two goals in each half.

Mossley were on the front foot from the off and had already gone close on a couple of occasions when they opened the scoring on 11 minutes. Kyle McGonigle's long throw from the left was flicked on by Tom Dean and Dave Short was on hand to score from close range.

Witton were working hard but lacked punch and failed to trouble Mossley's solid rearguard with Mike Thomas and Tom Dean again outstanding at the heart of the back four.

Witton were dealt a further blow on 25 minutes when midfielder Tom Schofield was shown a straight red card for a nasty two footed lunge on Andy Keogh. The Mossley skipper requiring lengthy treatment before he was able to continue.

Mossley, playing in cruise control, doubled the lead on the stroke of half time when Dave Short charged down Witton keeper Dominic Garner's attempted clearance from a back-pass to roll the ball into an empty net.

It took Mossley only seven minutes after the restart to score a third. Mike Fish played a terrific defence splitting pass into the path of Sam Robinson who cut in from the left wing to score with a precise shot from 20 yards.

With the victory now beyond doubt Mossley were finding gaps all over the place but a tendency to overplay at times decreased the number of clear chances though Andy Keogh brought the best out of Garner who kept out his powerful drive.

However, the lead was added to in the 67th minute. Mossley won a right wing corner and Scott Kay's flag kick was met by Michael Thomas who's crisp half volley from near the penalty spot gave Garner no chance.

Substitutes Mitch Bryant, Dougie Carroll and Jon Robinson all came close to adding to the lead. Bryant and Robinson were both denied by good saves by Garner while Carroll saw his effort come back off the underside of the bar.

The win took in form Mossley up to 8th place in the Evo-stik League Division One North, now just four points outside the play off places.

Wiz

Smiffy's pics

Dave Short opens the scoring