Mossley 1 Clitheroe 1
Att. 418

Clitheroe showed great character to withstand significant Mossley pressure throughout the game and only narrowly failed to hold on to their slender lead as they conceded a late equaliser.

Mossley created problems from the off with Chris Thompson being forced into a finger tip save within the first few minutes. Clitheroe could never quite recapture the form of midweek and it was only Mossley’s lack of quality in front of goal which stopped them taking the lead. Callum Leigh had the Blues’ first chance on 20 minutes after a flowing move and minutes later it was Leigh who shot weakly after further good Clitheroe approach play.

On 27 minutes, Clitheroe took the lead when a deep free kick by Richie Baker into the heart of the opposition box was controlled by Reece Webb-Foster before he span and slotted the ball home under pressure. Max Cane then sprang the offside trap but was inexplicably given offside as he headed for goal. However, still Mossley made chances, with shots and headers going way off target when cooler heads might have capitalised. On 41 minutes a lofted Mossley cross bounced off the crossbar before minutes later a header flashed past Thompson’s post.

The home side were quickly out of the blocks in the second half and Clitheroe defenders threw themselves at the ball minutes into the half as the home side queued up to shoot. On 52 minutes, Lewis Brown cleared a header from a corner off the line, before minutes later Webb-Foster was presented with the ball by the home keeper. He was so surprised to find himself one on one that he snatched at his shot and the keeper made amends.

Still Mossley came at the Blues, popping dangerous crosses into the box. On 68 minutes, substitute Danny Wilkins made a superb 50 yard pass to Jamie Edwards, but a desperate block stopped him getting off his shot as he shaped to shoot. Shots and headers continued to fly past Thompson’s goal and on 82 minutes, the home side hit the inside of the post and the ball somehow squirted to safety. It was too good to last and on 90 minutes, a deep Mossley free kick was met by a header, which wrong footed Thompson and the scores were level.

That was how it ended, with Mossley ruing their lack of quality in front of goal and the Blues happy to take a point from the third placed side in the league.

Team : Chris Thompson, Jack Burrows, Darren Holden, Richard Baker, Cameron Lancaster, Lewis Brown, Max Cane, Callum Leigh (Danny Wilkins), Jamie Edwards (Malick Diakite), Ross Dent (c), Reece Webb-Foster (William Ludlow-Foster). Subs - Danny Wilkins, Malick Diakite, William Ludlow-Foster. Not used - George Bristol.