Destination Mossley

On Saturday we travel to 4th placed Mossley, the lads need your support against a side in form. Mossley will be looking to redeem themselves following their 6-2 defeat at the Skuna back in November. The Lilywhites reacted immediately to that game by bringing former Bolton youth player, defensive midfielder Keiran Nolan in from Runcorn Linnets. Ben Halfacre and Max Leonard are the men banging in the goals. With Jordan Cover who bagged a hat-trick in the previous game still missing through injury, that man Tom Bentham is expected to lead the front line once again. We look back at last year's trip: Having not visited Seel Park to face Mossley for 13 years bar a friendly in 2014, last season this was a new ground for many Colls fans. Plans were made to travel on the train from Victoria, having to run to catch the hourly rattler, my Greggs sausage roll had to be sacrificed as I sped across the station, not quite sure which platform to head for. I was assured the train for Huddersfield was the correct one, but not recognising a single soul I had my doubts. Walking to the next carriage allayed my fears as everyone onboard was a familiar face. In no time we’d passed through Staley Vegas and disembarked at Mossley, plans to pile into the first pub were thrown into chaos as it was boarded up. The ground, and indeed the rest of the town, is up a hill so steep that Sherpas would struggle, some caught a bus for the short trip, some of us performed a walk that felt like altitude training. Reunited with the main group, the town wasn’t prepared for their arrival, the selected pub had one very slow barperson. Suggestions of frequenting the luxurious looking Conservative Club given short shrift. We instead settled on the clubhouse where other Colls fans who’d driven over were stationed. It was a forgettable game as we lost 2-0, played on a pitch described as stodgy. Mason Duffy a constant thorn in our side and the home side using the unique slope expertly. With the hourly train due, there was a mass exodus in the direction of the station. The descent considerably easier than the ascent. The train was full of smartly dressed folk heading for the bright lights of Manchester. They weren’t expecting the gaggle of well-oiled Colls fans who joined them for the final leg of the journey. A cracking trip. The plan this year is something similar, taking into account people are on Dry January, trains from Picadilly to Hull via Mossley are at 12.47 and 13.47.