Despite enjoying the majority of possession, Mossley were unable to turn their superiority into goals at a wet and muddy Seel Park on Saturday as a stubborn Clitheroe side held on for a point.

That Clitheroe succeeded in earning a point was as much down to the difficult playing conditions as it was any great quality in the visitors overworked back-line.

Gareth McClelland’s side were without Ben Richardson and Tom Ingham through injury with Ben McNamara partnering Lee Rick in central midfield. Peter Band returned to the side following suspension with Mike Jones returning to the bench. Nathan Neequaye was given the nod over Osebi Abadaki to partner new boy Tom Denton up front.

Mossley pressed from the start but the final ball into the area was often a poor one after some neat approach play had promised more.

Denton and Neequaye were victims of some over zealous late challenges that often went unpunished by some somewhat lenient refereeing.

Neequaye was the victim of a late challenge that ended his afternoon’s football on 35 minutes. The referee missed the incident as he followed the ball and the Mossley striker was replaced by Abadaki on 35 minutes.

From that moment on Abadaki looked Mossley’s greatest threat though Denton, who now looks to be settling into the side after his recent arrival from Wakefield, also made a good contribution, particularly in the second half.

Chances were at a premium throughout though as defences were generally dominant and Mossley were hit by a further injury when Ben McNamara was hurt. Rob Flint making his first appearance since returning from a brief spell with Trafford came in at right- back with Cavell Coo switching to midfield.

Mossley came closest when a Coo run and shot saw the ball fly narrowly wide of the left upright while a similar fate awaited Denton as his delicate chip beat the keeper and a covering defender but also went just wide of the same post.

Abadaki’s probing runs were often held up by the sticky pitch and the several corners that he won came to naught as the delivery was too often less than top quality.

At the other end Clitheroe had a goal chalked off for offside and the visitors also saw another effort fly across the face of the Mossley goal in the closing minutes.

The Lilywhites defence was otherwise unruffled, with Keil O’Brien, the returning Peter Band, Steve Halford and firstly Coo and later Flint, all in good form.

In the end Clitheroe will be far happier with the point gained but there were plenty of positives from a Mossley perspective particularly Denton’s second half showing he looks set to find form for the Lilywhites sooner rather than later.

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