Glossop North End v Mossley

.. and so it goes on ... well at least it takes one's mind off the "Tower of Doom" if only for a short time. Trains cr*p tonight which left me struggling to arrive at Surrey Street in time .. but I did ! Handed over the "secret dossier" to Snapper Jim from Glossop and settled down to watch a very competitive game between two good sides ... HOWEVER ... "Captain Young" from Glossop seemed to "have one on him" tonight - totally unnecessary really, as was the booking in the end - I reckon the ref should have ambled over to the Glossop bench and "advised a substitution" - as it is, it's a yellow card - which counts - before we even start the season in earnest ! Apparently two good goals from Mossley - got something on the first by Sam Walker (another Woodley "old boy" now in the Mossley fold) and Nathan Neequaye right at the death (as in "me in loo preparing for a cadged lift back home" - as in "bugger !").

Tonight you could see that it's only a matter of time - hopefully this season ? - until Glossop get up there into the Unibond (be it north or south - they'd be one of those "teams on the cusp"). Take nowt away from Mossley though - it looked their "beach frolics in Formby" at the weekend have helped with the stamina - and there was some very good link-up play tonight as well. At times, there did seem to be a bit of dissension in the ranks between the Glossop players - can be constructive of course, but I'd have thought it was something to keep an eye on (personal viewpoint of course !). If you've got this far you deserve a break from me wobbling on ...

Glossop NE 0 Mossley 2

Work - tomorrow - well it WILL be interesting - as mentioned in the previous post, the postal service these days seems to vary wildly throughout the area - and it's not only Mossley (or "our street") that gets the "almost midday first delivery" - so these bloody "at risk" letters will be out - and many people will know nowt until tomorrow evening when they go home to find maybe a letter of doom or maybe just a "Sky flyer". With Mrs Smiffy away, I'm in the "capable hands" (!!) of our Pedro - I might tell him to leave it or .. whatever .. can compare notes with others who will be "getting the call" shortly after their particular Postman Pat's arrival. It's going to be one crazy day in work (with very little being done I'm sure ..) - fortunately (?) no football tomorrow night (that I can think of anyway - nearest is probably Hemsworth MW v Wakefield) - maybe treat myself to a quiet night in (or a noisy night out trying to avoid things like Manchester United and Valencia - unless someone knows someone who can blag me a "snapper pass" !!!!!).

Normal (?) service will resume on Thursday with Mossley fitting in another friendly against Springhead (wonder if Paul Buckley is still in charge - he was one fast mover - on the pitch - when at Mossley). One interesting number of note for the Thursday game is ....

49 ................. (just hope I've got that right - or at least my informants have !)

All will be revealed "on the night" !!!

Can't finish without a word about Mossley stalwart Derek Howard who died early on Tuesday morning - another of the Mossley "Old Guard" to leave us - loved Mossley - loved Oldham Athletic - knew so much about "river sand" and was a real hoot on some of the Mossley "booze bus" trips. There's been a number of the old school passing on over the last few years - let's hope that the present "forty somethings"(and me !) continue to become the "Old Guard of 2035" - because Mossley - like so many other clubs - is going to suffer from an entire "generation gap" of fans (thanks Sky) in the not too distant future.

'Bye Derek - go get yourself a decent seat in that "Cantilever Stand in the Sky".
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