The Colls headed West to Lancashire for their penultimate preseason friendly. Our hosts Mossley, will be playing in the Northern Premier North West Division this coming season.
The last time we visited Mossley, in competitive action, saw us fall to a 3-1 defeat. But both sides have seen numerous changes since then.
The rain earlier in the day had left the playing surface in great condition for fast flowing football. The hosts got us underway attacking from right to left.
The Colls started brightest and had a chance to grab an early lead. Smart interchange down the right found Jack Vann, he whipped in a wicked cross which was cleared to Ben Gordon. Gordon’s resulting cross found Derry Robson but he header was off target.
Ponte remained on the front foot, keeping the Mossley keeper busy. First Mikey Dunn’s shot from range required dealing with, before Scott Smith being denied by a smart save.
With eight minutes on the clock Ponte had the ball in the net, a quick free kick after two poor challenges played Vaughan Redford in on goal he slotted home before the referees whistle blew to pull it back. No real reason to pull play back, very harsh!
Mikey Dunn fired over after smart work on the edge of the area. Then Jack Lazenby had three efforts, first he struck a post and then the side netting from identical free kicks. before hitting a well timed volley goal bound.
Against the run of play Mossley broke the deadlock. Mikey Dunn jinked passed his man cut a cross into the box, but was upended in the process. Nothing given this time from the referee. Mossley then broke and a poor clearance from Musselwhite dropped at the Mossley man’s feet, which he hit into the empty net.
Heads appeared to go down after dominating most of the half, Mossley perhaps on top for the last 10 minutes of the first half.
On the hour the hosts almost grabbed a second on the back of some strong Ponte possession. A shot across goal went narrowly wide.
Pontefract then had two chance in as many minutes, Jack Vann picked out Scott Smith in the channel and worked an angle but his shot sliced over. Smith then became provider as his back heel found Ben Gordon barring down on the keeper, but he couldn’t keep his shot under the bar.
The game became a battle as The Colls tried desperately to get themselves level.
With only five minutes remaining Mossley broke again, first a clever dinked effort bounced back off the bar before a low effort edged wide.
Ponte had one final chance with minutes to play, Kane Reece broke the offside trap and did well to get the ball under control but again couldn’t keep the shot on target.
A disappointing result when you look at the clear opportunities on goal. Mossley played their part in a good game and looked sharp on the break.