An excellent second half rally saw Mossley safely through to the next round of the Buildbase FA Trophy with a 3-1 victory over a physical Skelmersdale United side at a wet Seel Park on Saturday.

Mossley got off to a bad start and simply weren’t at the races in the early stages. Conceding an 11th minute corner the Lilywhites went behind. Lewis Codling’s flag kick was headed into his own net at the near post by the unfortunate Caldon Henson to give the visitors a shock early lead.

Mossley struggled for fluency throughout what was from then a largely uneventful and frustrating opening 45 minutes.

The second half however, was a very different tale. Mossley were level within five minutes of the restart. Liam Ellis slipped Adam Latham through a gap and the ‘ginger winger’ made no mistake as he confidently slotted home.

Skem responded and Oliver Martin made a smart save to deny Andy Owens in a one on one situation.

Mossley were not to be denied though as they edged ahead on 56 minutes. Elliot Harrison’s free kick was won in the air by Tom Dean and Liam Ellis was in the right place at the right time to fire home from close range.

Mossley had one more brief spell of pressure to survive which saw Jamie McLellan make a great goal-line clearance before taking complete control of the game.

Several chances went begging as Ellis, Latham and Duffy started to cause havoc for a tiring Skem defence and it was no surprise when the Lilywhites finally put the game to bed on 77 minutes. The biggest cheer of the day was reserved for substitute Danny McLaughlin as the local boy scored his first goal for the club when he netted the rebound after Mason Duffy’s powerful drive had come back off a post.

Mossley will now face a home tie against Premier Division Lancaster City in thye next round on Saturday 28th October.

Wiz

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