Magnificent Mossley stormed through to the next round of the Emirates FA Cup with a clinical second half performance in winning 5-2 at Evo-stik League rivals Clitheroe on Saturday.
There was an enforced change in defence for this game with Steve Mason coming in for the suspended Dieter Downey while Mike Fish returned to the starting line up with Ben halfacre returning to the bench.
There was to be an early flurry of goals at Shawbridge as Mossley took the lead inside of a minute of the first whistle. Liam Ellis and Fish worked a move down the right wing and the latter's low delivery was met with a first time shot at the near post by Max Leonard that gave home keeper Ed Wilczynski no chance.
The lead was initially short lived though as in the 4th minute Clitheroe were awarded a free kick just outside the Mossley box and Jacob Gregory's daisy cutter set piece found the bottom corner of the Mossley net.
Undeterred Mossley pressed forward again and regained the lead on 12 minutes when Liam Ellis fired home from eight yards from Adam Jones' header back across goal.
Mossley suffered a blow when Mike Fish was helped off with a shoulder injury after a failed attempt at a bicycle shot and Ben Halfacre came on as his replacement.
Clitheroe showed why their recent form has improved and put Mossley on the back foot for good spells in the first half with the lively Jacob Gregory in particular causing Mossley's defence it's share of problems.
Another Clitheroe effort hit the bar but the home side wouldn't be denied and equalised five minutes before the break as Jacob Gregory's angled drive found the corner of the Mossley net.
The second half was a different story as Mossley returned to the great form shown in recent outings to demolish the home side's challenge with three well taken goals.
The Lilywhites regained the lead six minutes after the restart when Ben Halfacre bundled the ball home after good work by Ellis.
Soon after Mossley swept into an almost unassailable lead as Ben Richardson's left wing corner was headed clear and found it's way to Adam Jones, who, after a bit of very nifty footwork for a centre back, crossed to the far post, the keeper palmed the ball into the path of Max Leonard who smashed home first time from eight yards.
Clitheroe worked hard to regain a foothold but found Jonny Diba Musangu and his defence in unshakable form and Mossley put the final seal on the game in the dying seconds when Ben Halfacre released Mason Duffy on a counter attack and Duffy's cross was returned to the big Mossley substitute who cut inside his marker to fire into the top corner.
Wiz
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