MOSSLEY 2, CITY OF LIVERPOOL FC 0
Mossley are suddenly eyeing a play-off place in Pitching In Northern Premier League, West after their home win against City of Liverpool FC.
A run of only one defeat in eight league matches has catapulted the Lilywhites to eighth place and only two points shy of the top five as they are enjoying an upturn in fortunes.
It was a huge win as City of Liverpool are in the relegation places and there is now a 13-point gap between the two teams. Had the Merseysiders triumphed that would have been reduced to seven.
In what is an incredibly competitive division – anybody can beat anybody – Mossley are nine points clear of the bottom four, an impressive turnabout in their fortunes.
Manager David Fish wanted to build on Saturday’s 2-2 draw against Congleton Town when they twice came from behind to snatch a point.
“We didn’t have a good record against the bottom teams, but I thought we controlled the game,” he said.
“We created a lot of chances, and it should have been more comfortable.”
Fish added his major issue at the moment is keeping all his players happy.
“The challenge is managing the players who are not starting and who are chomping at the bit,” he continued.
“It is about managing the squad, but a nice problem to have, though it is a headache.”
The early drama surrounded the kit colour clash as City of Liverpool arrived with a grey playing strip while the Lilywhites were, as their name suggests, in white.
The surprise was that referee Joe Cunningham allowed play to start only to call a halt to proceedings after only four minutes with the Mossley players having to change into their yellow away shirt on the pitch.
Mossley were ahead after 17 minutes following a well-executed free kick as Mason Fawns found Bailey Marsden who fired home a low shot.
They ought to have built a bigger lead by the break as Eric Yahaya and Guilherme Baltazar had great chances.
Yahaya had another good opportunity to score a second which did not come until the 81st minute.
Fawns played a fabulous 50-yard pass over the visiting defence to release Obua Mugalula who raced clear down the left before drilling home a great shot into the far corner.
Yahaya almost added a third late on when he, too, was put clear only to lob keeper Adam Khan and see his effort fly wide.
Equally pleasing was the clean sheet with returning goalkeeper Russ Saunders making a couple of decent stops but not overworked.
The veteran Saunders has been signed on dual registration forms from Bury to cover for Fin Madiga who is away on holiday.