Mossley were forced to play seventy minutes of Saturday’s Seel Park 1-1 draw against Ramsbottom United with ten men due to one of the poorest refereeing performances seen at Seel Park for quite some time.
Referee Mr Ball red carded Mossley left back Dieter Downey in the 20th minute of the match for a successful full blooded but totally fair 50/50 challenge with visitors defender Luke Thompson, both players connecting with the ball at the same moment. Quite what the referee saw was entirely different to that witnessed by just about everyone else in the healthy 333 attendance.
Unfortunately Mr Ball’s decision was the tip of iceberg as regards poor decisions as he continued to anger and amuse in equal portion with several frankly ludicrous decisions throughout the remainder of the game.
The red card apart Mossley put in another strong and determined performance against a useful Ramsbottom side and at no stage was it obvious that Mossley were playing with a player less.
An unchanged Mossley side had seen the visitors create the first chance when a defence splitting through ball sent Jerome Wright clear but Jonny Diba Musangu saved well from the one on one.
Max Leonard was unlucky on a couple of occasions and Mossley were a continuous threat as Richardson's long throws created plenty of problems for the Ramsbottom defence.
Following the red card Ramsbottom again went close as Wright’s angled drive crashed against the far post before being cleared to safety and Mossley were dealt a further blow when Mike Fish limped from the field with Steve Mason his replacement as Mossley adjusted tactically to the depletion in numbers.
Despite the numerical disadvantage Mossley came out all guns blazing for the second half and took the lead within three minutes of the restart. Richardson’s long throw caused panic and Ramsbottom conceded a corner. Richardson’s ensuing inch perfect flag kick from the right saw Adam Jones crash home a powerful header from eight yards.
Jones went close again soon after when he met another corner with a powerful header but this time the ball flew narrowly wide.
Despite the heroics of the ten men, Ramsbottom somehow fashioned an equaliser on 63 minutes. A speculative shot from distance by Brooks was deflected into the path of veteran hit-man Lee Gaskell and the Ramsbottom legend could hardly miss from six yards as the space opened up before him.
The referee continued to frustrate the Lilywhites through stoppage time as he first failed to react to a foul on Godwin Abadaki as the Mossley livewire was clearly hauled down on the edge of the area.
From the resulting counter attack Mossley substitute Ben Halfacre was pushed in the back close to the edge of the Mossley box. Mossley fans and players appealed but the referee decided instead to award the visitors a free kick in a dangerous position and book Richardson for his protest. Fortunately for Mossley the free kick was wasted as Higgs effort flew well over the bar.
In the end Mossley were left to contemplate what might have been had they been allowed to complete the game with a full compliment of players.
Wiz
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