The final mid week game of the season saw the Lilywhites head to the Neuven Stadium to face Radcliffe F.C.

Dave Wild and Terry Hincks made three changes to their starting eleven after their 2-2 draw with Prescot Cables on Saturday.

The dynamic duo went into their sixth game in charge with high hopes of taking the three points back to Seel Park ahead of the local derby against Hyde United on Saturday.

An even first 15 minutes saw plenty of tackles and a few chances for Mossley, Mason Duffy had the first scoring opportunity, making a strong run down the left wing towards Radcliffe’s goalie Connor Keane who sent his curling volley around the post, impressing the new managers.

Dave Wild said after the game “Mason is a good, young player who needs to continue to develop and work hard, he’s got faults to his game but going forward he’s a serious out and out player and a real threat for us every time we go on the attack.”

Andy Keogh and Duffy worked the ball ever closer to the Radcliffe goal but Keogh’s shot took a deflection and out for a corner, the ball once again fell to Keogh who found Mike Fish but the ball fell into the hands of Keane.

As the clock struck 20 minutes a poorly misplaced ball from Radcliffe midfielder Matty Russell found Mike Fish who quickly and cleanly found his way around the goalkeeper and calmly found the back of the net taking the Lilwhites 1-0 up.

Keenan Quansah made a vital tackle in the 18 yard box to deny Radcliffe, along with an important save from Liam Flynn to keep the Lilywhites a goal up going into half time.

Wild expressed his thoughts on half time “I was anxious and we are aware the lads aren’t where we would like them to be fitness wise” but the team pushed on for the 3 points.

Ten minutes into the second half an impressive pass from Keogh fell to Duffy again but his opportunity was denied.

Radcliffe had an opportunity to get themselves back in the game at with a chance from Ben Jago but his volley hit the top of the main stand instead of the net.

Radcliffe piled the pressure on with chance after chance, their best opportunity coming from James Hooper who found Louis Myers from 6 yards but his attempt was pushed past by Flynn.

Holding on for dear life Mossley kept their cool, Dec Evans with a vital touch as he swung the ball past the post to stop Radcliffe getting an equaliser.

Mossley had one last great chance, a throw in from Liam Ellis found Keenan Quansah, his quick foot work around the Radcliffe defence found Mike Fish who’s attempt dipped but just over the net.

Final whistle blown and a third win in 6 for the Lilywhites furthers the new managements aspirations for the team.

After the game Dave Wild spoke of their impressive points tally “We set an in-house target of 8 points in 8 games and we’ve got 11 in 6. So we’ve done better than we thought we would do but that’s not down to me or Terry it’s down to the players who have come out of their shells and proven they can give any team in this league a game”

“There is a group of around 16 to 18 lads who all care about each other and clearly care about the club and all want to progress in what we’re trying to do, change the style of football and entice some support back”

Securing 3 points gives the team an added boost of confidence going into our final home game of the season, Dave added “We’ll assess Saturday later on, a regroup and a recap, let people rest and recover. Sophie (physio) has been great she deserves a massive pat on the back for helping the boys out with knocks and niggles. Hyde’s going to be a tough one”

Francesca Doran