There is something not quite right in the ether at the moment, City are top of the league, the tories are in power and there is no alternative plausible vote, the royals are in favour and the rest of the world is coming to London and looking forward to it!!! But most of all, on a cold amp Sunday morning, Grappenhall vets went to Mossley and lost…..and came back smiling.....well most of us did!!!
The fights, the angry exchanges, the complete (I highlight this word because clearly there is still the odd scouse accent saying something outrageously provocative) nobs on the sideline for Mossley all a thing of history….Will scored a cracker from 24 yards, left foot volley in the corner,,,,and the shirt did not I repeat DID NOT, go over his head nor did he waltz down their touchline, lighting the blue touch paper as he went. Something is definitely not right, the Karma has been disturbed, is it a full moon, the passing asteroid….or worst of all….age.
Sorry off on a tangent…… lets rewind for those who weren’t there.
We met at Hatton arms car park, all seemed normal as I drove in, but Cookie was sheepish….”do you really need me?? The electrics have failed at home and am in deep shit…” (we had 14), though Norm also Sheepish in a corner….green, stinking of beer and even worse when he got in the car….acidic garlic….uuughhhh!!!
We should have known something was wrong, Coyney and Dixie late, one of these 2 was going to become a hero….read on!!
Coyney ran on, ran off, retrieved his gloves from the car….under the seat no doubt like last year incendiary wallet…ran back on all flustered…..the game started.
Mossley dominant in the first few minutes, with all their key players, Lee up front…with Pem doing a full man to man marking job, wherever he went, Lee shackeld on the left wing, Phil a big jugernat upfront, winning the odd header off early impressive Bradley, Chris Orr look-a-like in midfield rumbling around, and a new guy Colin, later given MoM, tried his luck with JK in the first half. The next disaster struck, Tok pulls up with a hammy….down to 12 fit players and 80 to go.
Will strikes a beauty with our first strike…on comes Dixie, fantastic turn with first touch, Suddenly Grap looking more astute upfront, with Norm playing off the garlic to assist the first goal and control the attacking thrusts.
But then the next disaster, with the wind at our backs the hill in our favour a slender 1-0 lead well deserved, 2 mins to half time, the first Bradley error, dives into a tackle, misses, the cross in, Niven dives in to block Lee, both miss the ball and it slides to John at the back post and Mossley are level.
Half time, tighten up says Bradley, clear the ball long cries the prohphetic Illiff, who sweated blood in the cause.
The next disaster or 3!!! Hands up Bradley and Wright ….there is no hiding place here…..as we imploded with 3 give away goals…its hard to explain how bad these were, but needless to say the jugenraut upfront was made to look like a teenage ballerina as he pirrhouetted around Bradley and Coyne and passed the ball in to the net, 10 seconds into the second half…..the next 2 occasions we had un-pressured possession for at least 5 mins, before the guilty parties (Bradley and Wright were closed down and robbed)….actually robbed is a bad word!!!! The babies kind of held out their hands and actually waved the offered Candy in the faces of the Scouse robbing b*&*#ads….sorry couldn’t resist the blasphemy!!!!
Enough to make many a hard man weep or a manager cry ,….but no, down the other end, we kept peppering attacks at a poor Mossley defence. Great goals from Dixie (yes Dixie, who tripped over himself to miss in the reverse fixture), kept us in it. From 3 1 down, to 3-2, then 4-2, then 4 -3. At this point the manager made a prophetic call…..if we don’t let any more soft goals in, we will win this game…..sadly the prophecy was the continued home leakage….Coyeny made a great save tipping onto the bar at 9 feet for some reason, the ball bounced 8 yards clear, no-one pressed in crashed the Mossley striker….making it 5 – 3….surely allover
But still Grappenhall wouldn’t surrender
…..Dixie completing his exquisite hat-trick…the best finishing hat trick I’ve witnessed in a Grappenhall shirt…..
5 – 4 game on again.
We chased the game and let in another…8 mins to go (I honestly can’t remember this one)…..the game was up….but no, not even then at 6-4……. Ealesy all bluster and physical presence today, finally realised the ball was the best thing to chest, rather than Mossley backs and pulled it down in the box to swivel and shoot and score….5 minutes left…..Six goals to five…….We huffed, we puffed but we couldn’t blow the straw house Mossley defence down one last time….the whistle went on an incredible and unlikely match. Hugs and jokes and a shaking of hands…..the offer to have an annual a Grappnhall v Mossley trophy….accepted…even if relegated this fixture will survive……but we won’t be relegated if we play with this heart and commitment for the last 6 games.
Spare a thought for a few un-sung and bruised bodies, PEM for making a sterling effort marking Lee, and never letting him more than an inch away…..JK who previously didn’t look like he had an hour in him, lasted the 90 and won more headers than PEM in a month of MoM performances…Mike Illiff and Quent for dogging out the midfield looking clearly the better of their Mossley opposition……and even the boss, for doing his first 90 in a long time and yes in the last 5 mins their were 2 or 3 trade mark wild tackles, as the lactate dug in and the brain imagines more than the body could do…..and last of all poor Norm, goal less in a goal fest, greener than a lime from Saturdays excess, driven back to Hatton arms by Leigh…only to realise he had left the prize keys to the AstonDB9, in the back of the bosses car…20 mins behind him on the Runcorn bridge, sat glumly in the car park with sleet washing the Mossley mud off a very fevered brow……The rest of us, (maybe Wright excluded, who missed the aftermath laughs)…are still smiling at the thought of another trip up the Mossley Hill
Bring on Bexton, lets play with the same attacking flare….but no more give-aways please!!!!
Rob Niven
you made us proud to wear blue!!! 8 minutes to go the third Dixie goal, went….5 - .
