Cheadle Town 1-2 Mossley
Saturday, July 23, 2011 at 7:37PM 
This was a lively, spirited performance that - against another club from the NWCFL Division One - may have had a good chance of bringing a win. We had our chances, particularly in the first half, which started as early as the 60 second mark as a Paul Whalley shot was deflected just wide of the post; from the resulting corner Arron Riley just failed to get enough meat on a free header.
Our Northern Premier League opponents then got out of their slumber and gave the game its first goal after just ten minutes; their no11 working a nice one-two before marching towards goal and side-footing home.
We pressed on and had two excellent chances to level the score. Dan Brokenbrow curled one just wide after a good exchange of passes with Ben Brooks with Ben then latching onto a through-pass to lob the keeper but see the ball agonisingly come off the post.
Ten minutes before half-time Mossley's trciky, pain-in-the-arse winger called "Kane" went on one hell of a mazy run but our keeper Nick Jackson was equal to his close-range effort.
Three minutes before the break we got the goal our efforts deserved. Paul Whalley beat the keeper to the ball and took it away from him to the left before turning and curling home from the tightest of angles. Things could have got better for us shortly after that as James McDonagh volleyed just over the crossbar from close-range.
The second-half wasn't as lively as it was peppered with substitutions (mainly from us as Steve tinkered with the formation). Dan Brokenbrow poked a shot over the bar from the edge of the box on 55 minutes with Mossley getting the winner with a quarter-of-an-hour remining after we lost possession in our own half; the Mossley player still had a lot to do as he bore down on goal but he finished smartly, curling it over our substitute keeper's head.
Despite the defeat a more-than-decent run-out for us today and a more-than-decent performance against a side that is two divisions higher than us....
TEAM: Jackson, Clarke, Street, Riley, Gaskin, Whalley, D Brokenbrow, Hamlett, Brooks, J McDonagh, Lindon. Subs: Wood, "Dale" (still don't know his full name!), Dean Forrester
