After the disappointment of the the F.A Cup exit on Saturday, Mossley were hoping for an instant reaction against 4th place Runcorn Linnets at Seel Park on Tuesday but were once again to suffer late agony when the visitors scored with their second controversial penalty kick of the game 4 minutes into stoppage time.
The Mossley line up showed three changes from Saturday, Andy Keogh returned as captain, the newly re-signed Keenan Quansah came into midfield while Izzy Miranda came in for the injured Dieter Downey.
The opening moments of the game were even as both sides worked each other out, Runcorn had the first of the chances when Kyle Hamid was through on goal but Johny Diba-Musangu made a fantastic double save diving first one way then the other to deny the rebound.
Mossley were attacking as a unit, Ben Richardson and Liam Ellis were particularly energetic, keeping plenty of pressure on Runcorn’s defence.
There were plenty opportunities for both sides, however, just after 20 minutes, Runcorn were awarded a dubious penalty in front of the park end. Louis Corrigan went for the bottom right corner and so did Jonny Diba Musangu, who, stretching himself as far as possible got a vital hand to the ball to keep the score level.
Minutes later a counter attack from the Lilywhites saw Izzy Miranda race down the left wing, playing a one, two with Liam Ellis who then pulled the ball back to captain Andy Keogh, who from a good 35 yards out, struck a stunning daisy cutter of a drive into the bottom corner to give the Lilywhites the lead.
Other than a couple of chances for Keogh and Quansah, the end to the first half was fairly comfortable.
Mossley started the second half well, Ellis and Richardson linking up again but no goal to kill the game. Max Leonard similarly with a free kick that Runcorn keeper Dylan Forth did well to get his hand to it.
The game turned with fifteen minutes remaining. A mis-timed tackle by Aaron Morris sent Max Leonard sprawling in the box. It looked a clear penalty, but, despite Mossley protests play was allowed to continue.
Moments later a cross from Connor McCarthy flew past the Lilywhites defence and found Freddie Potter who’d turned his back to goal and bicycle kicked the ball into the back of the net.
Not only did the shock of the goal roar around Seel Park but goal scorer Keogh was sent off amidst the Runcorn's celebrations, presumably for complaints for no penalty being given.
Mossley made further attempts on goal but Runcorn began to over-power the game against the ten man Lilywhites as five minutes of added time were shown. Three minutes into added time, the referee pointed to the spot again, awarding Runcorn a second highly debatable penalty after a block tackle on Paul Shanley by Declan Evans.
Previous scorer Freddie Potter stepped up again and this time converted for Runcorn to take the points with mere seconds remaining.
Was it a penalty?, you decide!
