Mossley 0, Bootle 3

It's fair to say that no-one saw this coming.  Two from two in the league, beaten by a team from a lower league in the FA Cup.  Deservedly so, too.

Bootle were excellent, and with Woodley Sports already having dropped plenty of points in the North West Counties League, they truly look like a side who could win their division.  Making sure their player manager, Neil Prince, stays fit will be crucial.

Last season Bootle were a direct and physical side, horrible for neutrals to watch and only acceptable to home fans as it was winning football.  This season they appear to be set on playing some football.  The only sour point for me was the taunting coming from unused subs and replaced players that was sent towards the Mossley bench and team.  It was unnecessary, and not exactly inkeeping with the 'Respect' agenda.

In the report, I hesitated to name Keil O'Brien as having a particularly difficult afternoon, but I expect he will learn a lot from playing Lee Thompson.  A typical number 9 in the Shearer mould he won soft free kicks and used his bulk to good effect, and O'Brien in particular showed his frustration on several occasions.  He's a class act at this level though, and will take it all in.

Mossley 0, Bootle 3

Mossley 0, Bootle 3

Mossley crashed out of the FA Cup at Seel Park on Saturday with a disappointing performance against the North West Counties Football League leaders, who out-played the Lillywhites to progress to the next round.

In player-manager Neil Prince, Bootle had the game’s class act.  He always seemed to have time on the ball, controlling the midfield area and scored an absolute beauty to put his side two up…but more on that later.

Mossley had few chances in the game, but will particularly rue two efforts that might have produced goals that preceded the visitors heading to the other end and netting.  Had either gone in, momentum would have been altered and the result could have been different.

The first of those chances was on 6 minutes when a Steve Halford pass from the right back area was flicked around the corner by Gavin Salmon through the Bootle back line.  Nathan Taylor started his running behind centre-back Green but out-sprinted him to get a sight of goal.  However, Taylor couldn’t pick a moment to shoot and as he continued to run the angle got tighter until eventually his only option was to cut the ball back, only to discover he had no support.

Within a minute Bootle were ahead.  Rowney and Gee collided in midfield allowing Black to shoot from distance only for Pearson to deny him with a flying save.  However, from the corner an overhead kick was blocked and fell to Jak Gray whose first shot hit the bar, but the ball bounced back to the diminutive striker and he made no mistake with his second effort.  

Bootle took control as Mossley played with too much tension, panicking about the score despite there being more than ample time to recover.   As a result their play was ragged, passes going astray all over the pitch.  However, hope that they might settle was rekindled on 20 minutes when a Rowney free kick was curling in, only for Porter to stretch and tip it over his bar.

Again, Bootle took full advantage, as a minute later they doubled their lead, Prince scoring his golden goal.  He picked up the ball in midfield 30 yards from the Mossley goal, and whilst the home side will argue that he should have been closed down there was no option but to applaud as he controlled, looked up, and placed the ball over Pearson into the top corner.  It was a special effort.

With a two goal cushion,  Bootle looked very comfortable, with only half chances for Taylor and Halford before half time, which the visitors matched.  Prince & Gray had impressed with their skills and pace whilst big centre forward Lee Thompson showed old fashioned No 9 skills in winning headers and free kicks, giving young Keil O’Brien difficult afternoon in an wily display.

Mossley energy levels were noticeably higher after the break and on 52 minutes Mark Haslam, brought on after the break, put in a delicious delivery from a free kick, but the ball skimmed off Halford’s head from five yards, when any contact of significance would surely have seen Mossley back in the game.  To add insult to injury, within a minute the lead extended to three goals as The Lillywhites switched off at a free kick, when instead of delivering the expected cross Prince played a passed ball down the right to Gray inside the box.  Gray was able to jink towards goal too easily and from a tight angle scored via the inside of the far post.  Game over.

Whilst Mark Haslam tested the keeper from distance,  the ball just not dropping for Salmon on the rebound in a way that he could strike it properly, there was little Mossley could do to penetrate the Bootle back line.  It took until the 93^rd minute for the forward line to get behind the defence, and Porter was off his line early to narrow the angle and deny Salmon from the edge of the 6 yard area.

Mossley must regroup prior to Tuesday’s difficult home game with Curzon Ashton, whilst on this display Bootle look a good bet to win promotion into Mossley’s league for next season.

Cammell Laird 1, Mossley 2

This is better.  Written immediately after the game in the Cammell Laird Social Club, there was plenty of incident to include.  Saturday, in hindsight, was a 'blood out of a stone' report - not much of excitement happened. 

Old habits die hard though, and I missed an alleged off-the-ball stamp because I was checking my phone to see how Glossop were getting on!

The referee got a lot of stick, and this was the second game in a row there has been a flurry of yellow cards.  They seem to be really hot on dissent at the moment, so lads are going to have to learn to count to ten as careless shouts could prove expensive.

I try not to slag referees in reports because when I write something that does slate the ref the reader then knows that they have been truly terrible.  I think anyone writing reports should approach a referee's performance knowing that in each game there are 22 cheats (plus those on the bench) and 3 honest men.  They do their best, and will always make mistakes...usually less than the players themselves.  I think only twice could I say I've seen a referee make a deliberately dishonest decision.  Players claim throw-ins when they've blatently just kicked the ball out of play.

Here's the report of the game -

Cammell Laird 1, Mossley 2

Whilst Saturday’s win over Bamber Bridge might have been a little short of incident, that certainly wasn’t the case at Cammell Laird on Tuesday night where the crowd saw three goals, the same number of red cards and a brace of penalties – definite value for money for the entrance fee.

A fifth minute goal suggests that Mossley started brilliantly, but the bare stats don’t tell the full story as Laird should have been one up already.  The defence failed to deal with a set piece, allowing the ball to drop to Grogan whose shot hit the post.  A scramble ensued and ball fell to McNally who somehow hit the other post.

Then in their first attack Mossley’s Nathan Taylor delivered a deep cross that was cleared to Chris Rowney 25 yards out.  He controlled and delivered a low shot that fizzed past Molloy in the Laird goal to claim the lead.

Hero turned villain five minutes later when, with his team passing it around the back to settle down, Rowney turned into trouble, mis-controlled and tackled on the stretch, sending Henders sprawling.  It looked a bad tackle, not malicious but onto the shin, and it was 50/50 whether he would see red or yellow.  The referee chose the former, and Rowney was off.

Suddenly Mossley’s mind-set had to change again but they dealt comfortably with what Lairds could throw at them in open play, and then doubled their lead on 26 minutes.  A free kick from half way was launched into the box and Molloy came out to his penalty spot to punch away.  The ball fell to Coo, if anything further out than Rowney had been, but he simply took a touch to control and drilled the ball past the backtracking keeper to make it 2-0.

The cliché says you’re at your most vulnerable after you have scored and Crouch should have scored almost immediately for the home side when meeting a low cross, but Pearson made himself big and the ball hit him in the face.  However, Lairds did get on the scoresheet on 41 minutes when Lillywhite’s player-boss Halford climbed on the back of the big striker Bowen to meet a ball in the box and was penalised.  Henders netted from the spot.

Half time plans went out of the window within three minutes of the restart when Coo played a tremendous crossfield ball to Madeley, who headed the ball perfectly into his own path behind the last man.  Riley’s tackle on the forward looked a well-timed one, and the referee let it go, but the linesman insisted it was a penalty.  As such, there was no choice but to dismiss Riley, evening the sides up.  Coppin took the penalty, as he had last Saturday, but this time he missed to the left, much to Laird’s relief.

On 64 minutes Mossley had another chance as Molloy missed Young’s looping free kick, but Gorton could not keep his header down below the crossbar. 

With the sides now even, a midfield battle had ensued, but on 74 minutes there was another twist as McNally was dismissed. The foul was innocuous, and it was suggested that had he remembered McNally had been booked in the first half the referee wouldn’t have booked him again.  It certainly seemed he’d forgotten, as the red card came 30 seconds after the 2^nd yellow.

This gave Mossley the numerical advantage, but raised the home side and Halford’s ten men had to deal with more pressure in the remaining minutes, not least when a corner was met by Bowen and seemed destined for the goal, only for substitute Lewis Proudfoot to hook the ball off the line.  It was to be the last worry of the game, as stout defending secured the points and maintained a 100% record.

Team – Pearson, Coo, Young, O’Brien, Halford, Gorton, Gee, Rowney, Taylor (Madeley 45 (Proudfoot 66), Salmon (Hind 66), Coppin

Subs not used – Richardson, Haslam.

Mossley 1 Bamber Bridge 0

My first report for Mossley - bit of rustiness I think, but hopefully by the end of the month I'll have re-found my reporting boots.  Everyone in football takes a bit of time to get going again after the summer...

Mossley 1, Bamber Bridge 0

In their first competitive game of the season, The Lillywhites justified a sense of pre-game optimism around Seel Park, recording a win against a side that finished five places and fifteen points ahead of them in 2011-12.  Not only that, Bamber Bridge did the double over them in the last campaign, so it will matter not one jot to Steve Halford’s side that it took a controversial late penalty to separate the teams.

There were five minutes to go when Sam Madeley took a tumble in the box as a free kick looked to be over-hit and sailing out of play.  Few appealed for a spot kick but the referee awarded it and Kayde Coppin coolly slotted to Lee Dovey’s right, netting despite the keeper guessing his direction correctly.  It had taken some time from foul to spot kick as Bamber Bridge had protested vociferously.

The game itself had been engrossing up until that point without being thrilling.  Clear goal opportunities had been at a premium, with the majority of chances that had been created up until that point taking the crowd by surprise rather than coming from great build up play.

One such chance was Gary Gee’s 25^th minute piledriver.  A pair of blocked shots saw the ball bounce to the Gee 25 yards out, and he could not have hit it sweeter.  The ball seemed destined for the goal only to hit the bar and, showing just how hard he’d hit it, bouncing down into the ground and out of the goal area.  It was a tremendous effort, and the best of the first half.

Around that moment Mossley keeper Martin Pearson had made a good save to keep out a Darren Green swivelled snapshot whilst Chris Rowney had mis-kicked an attempt on goal when good work from Nathan Taylor led to a cut-back for the midfielder as he advanced into the box.

Before half time Bridge’s Bell wasted a half chance at the near post, bursting towards the 6 yard box but turning the ball wide, and Kayde Coppin woke the crowd up with an interception outside his own box then driving to the other end of the pitch before his dangerous cross was turned behind.

Bamber Bridge had caused problems to the home defence within 40 seconds of the kick off in the first half, and Mossley emulated this in the second when Coppin’s cross across the face of goal was just cleared by the stretching defence.  Shortly afterwards, debutant Sam Hind had his best chance when a ball was pinged towards him in space, but he couldn’t control the ball cleanly and found the defence quick to react and clear.

Mossley were grateful to Pearson on 63 minutes when he saved acrobatically from Green’s sidefooted snapshot from the edge of the area.  He needed to – the ball was heading for the top corner.

A forced change tipped the balance in Mossley’s favour.  Cavell Coo had had a decent game until injury forced him off on the hour mark, but his replacement Ben Richardson had an excellent half hour when coming on and gave the home side real thrust as he took advantage of legs sapping in the heat.

He strode forward on several occasions.  He played a 1-2 with Salmon on the edge of the area and drove a cross into the box that Salmon just couldn’t reach.  On 78 minutes he intercepted in his own half and played the ball through, only for the keeper to slide out of his box to reach the ball and clear. Crucially the ball well behind Richardson, so by the time he controlled and turned to lob the keeper, Dovey had had enough time to recover and could pluck the ball out of the air.

With 5 minutes to go another debutant, Jason Gorton, rose highest from a corner and met the ball with his head firmly.  The crowd expected the net to ripple, and it did, unfortunately only as the ball just cleared the bar and hit the top of the goal.

A draw looked likely then, only for that disputed penalty call to settle the game in the home side’s favour.  As the Lillywhite’s players celebrated a win after the whistle, the Bridge players continued to argue their point with the referee.  It was too late by then, and Mossley would take their good spirits to Cammell Laird on Tuesday night.

Team – Pearson, Coo (Richardson 60), Young, O’Brien, Halford, Gorton, Gee, Rowney, Taylor (Madeley 79), Hind (Salmon 65), Coppin.

Subs not used – Proudfoot, Haslam. 

Five Wishes for the New Premiership Season

It's back then.  After three stress free months of European Championships that England knew they wouldn't win, then tennis, golf and the Olympics, we are back into the sport that we take, and takes itself, far too seriously...football.  As we kick off 2012-13 I want to see changes, and these are they.  My five wishes for the new football season.

1 - All commentators and pundits are sent on a refereeing course

Jonathan Pearce, I'm thinking particularly of you.  You've an opinion on everything, said with the authority of someone who knows the rulebook inside out but displaying the knowledge of someone who hasn't even given it a glance.

"There was contact" you'll say, or "it definitely touched his arm" as if either was worthy of an instant free kick or penalty.  And whoever is back in the studio will agree.

You are all wrong, but your opinions get listened to and taken as gospel.  Given this, I propose that all commentators and pundits be licensed. 

For either job you must take a course on a) English (yes, YOU, Alan Shearer) and b) refereeing.  Then you might understand that handball has to be deliberate, which would be a start.

Feel free to add your own module to the curriculum, reader.

2. Luiz Suarez shows us his talent rather than his inner El Hadj Diouf

Luiz Suarez is a brilliant player.  He has the talent to frighten any defence and the potential to spearhead the Brendan Rogers revolution to the brink of Champions League qualification.

But he is also a hateful twonk.  His diving is beyond ridiculous, his on pitch attitude is snarling to referees and opposition alike, and his complete lack of contrition when being found to be a liar by an independent panel and then dragging his club and manager's reputation into the gutter with him were shocking.

My plea to Luiz is that he cuts it out and show us his pace, his skill and his shooting ability.   I think he might enjoy it more too, and it would be great to bring another side into the Champions League mix, adding to the excitement of a terrific league.

3. 'Football' teams continue to thrive

Everybody loves a side that gets it down and plays.  Swansea were a joy to watch last season, apart from when beating your team.  Blackpool the season before managed to play with a style that was only scuppered by a soft defence that couldn't quite back up the work that their under-estimated forward line had done.

I'd much rather teams with the ability to open up teams with possession and passing survive than those who rely on the Charlie Taylor 'get in in the mixer' school of football.  Nothing against Stoke (and probably West Ham) supporters, they'd rather their teams play football too, but I suspect your methods have to fail first to see the football you pay for.

4. Players stop falling over at the slightest touch.

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha....fat chance.  Let's re-title that.

4. Referees consider whether the 'contact' was what made the player fall over

As I've already discussed, the 'there was contact' line is all too often peddled by commentators and football writers, as though a miniscule touch caused the player to hurtle towards the turf like Usain Bolt towards a finish line. 

The trouble is, referee's are stuck between a rock and a hard place.  It's either a free kick or a yellow card.  He's been fouled or he's dived.  Perhaps they need a third way, and start considering waving play on for 'embellishment'.

I want referees to start considering whether the touch that the player got is was really got them to fall over.  Or did they embellish it to try to win a free kick. 

There is often contact - football is a contact sport, but we see in every game examples of determination to win the ball, where two players go head to head with pace and strength to win it.  So how come around the penalty box they suddenly lose all sense of balance when a toe prods their boot? 

Ashley Young was the most high profile of the embellishers last season, but every team has them.  Ballotelli likes a fall, and we've already covered Luiz Suarez.  I hope that when they fall to the ground and look in expectation they see a referee telling them to stop being such a wet blanket and get up.  Give it a few weeks and they'd soon be staying upright, and making the game a much better spectacle for it.

5. City win it.

Of course, I want it to be super-entertaining and hugely close for the independent viewer, but I also want Manchester City to amass 114 points and a goal difference of +380.  As do you for your team.  Enjoy the season.

Paul Colgan is the architect of his own problems

It’s early days in the season, and although they have yet to win, a trio of draws means Glossop North End are at least unbeaten in the three games they have played.  However, there appears to be much disquiet among the fans of the club, and unfortunately manager Paul Colgan has to a large extent brought it upon himself.

Whilst he is not to blame for the departure of Jay Gorton and Sam Hind, he has yet to prove he has the contacts to replace them.  Indeed, all of Saturday’s starting eleven against Louth could have begun a game in season 2011-12. 

This might spark a seed of impatience among the Hillmen faithful, but Colgan’s huge error was to undermine the achievements of the popular reserve team coaching staff of last year, and their team.   Colgan publically blamed the reserve set up for the first team’s end of season slump, stating on several occasions in the press that the strength in depth was severely lacking.  Not only was it a PR disaster, it was also wrong.

There is a touch of Royston Vasey amongst North End fans and we like to see ‘local’ lads being given the chance to prove themselves.  For instance, Trevor Smallwood (who I played against on the playground of Whitfield Primary back in the day) was and is hugely popular around Surrey St, along with long serving Glossop Comp old boy Darren Hamilton. So slating untried reserves was almost guaranteed to raise the hackles of a close knit club, and it has. 

The question that remains is whether those players were good enough.  The answer to that is we don’t know, and now never will.  My observations over the years is that players who come from the reserve set up are nervous, of course they are, but unless they are an instant hit are never able to get a run of games to settle in.

I don’t blame the manager for this, I blame the other players.  Reserve team players who came through in the era of Antony Trucca’s reserve reign were not treated by players as if they would have been had come from another club – they received no leeway or respect.  Where a regular first teamer should encourage and coach a youngster they would instead criticise and abuse, leaving an already reticent player even more lacking in confidence....which of course leads to further mistakes and a fast track back to second team football.

THAT is why the players coming from the reserves didn’t succeed.  Not because they weren’t good enough, but because no-one at a first team level thought sufficiently on how to get the best out of them.  

It’s too late now, most have moved on, annoyed that their management was marginalised and unhappy that the first team boss has told them via the papers that they aren't good enough.  So it was a surprise to see Colgan tweet “sad only 4 old resy players bk from last season“ at the end of June.  I’m not sure what he expected.

Coupled with results, this has added to the discontent among supporters.  Whilst message board rantings are often unhelpful and often unrealistic, they are a gauge of what people are thinking.  Fans know there is a limit to the budget at the club, and that that probably means North End are a mid-table side.   That being their fate, I suspect they would prefer to see it achieved with a few more lads with their hearts in the town rather than see those former Glossop Juniors forced out.

Still, like at every football club, the current travails are nothing that a few wins wouldn’t put right. It’s amazing what the scent of victory can do to a supporter’s memory and although Colgan’s treatment of last year’s reserve side has given him less time and goodwill in which to achieve, if the club were to go on a good run it would soon be forgotten.  Starting at Louth tonight?