Saturday 14 August 2010

Mossley v Bala Town Saturday 24th July 2010 Pre-Season Friendly

I headed to Seel Park for their “international” pre-season friendly against Bala Town from the Welsh Premier League for my game today. It was a ground that was on my hit list and had received glowing reports from hoppers who had been there and I was looking forward to seeing the stunning views constantly mentioned.

An easy trip saw me arrive in plenty of time to have a good wander round the ground. I head down towards the turnstiles and this must be one of the most attractive approaches to a ground I’ve been to with the hills as a drop back.

You come in the ground more or less on the half way line with the main stand to your left and the Clubhouse and other facilities to your right. I head to my right to make my tour around the ground. There is a 12 step terraced area with two neat rows of white crush barriers which leads you to the covered terraced area which runs virtually the whole length of the end.

This is a smart stand, again with white crush barriers and the view is pretty good with the support pillars not obscuring much of the action.

I carry onto the far side of the ground which has a three step terrace running along it’s whole length with another covered terraced area which runs about a third of it’s length sitting on the half way line. As with the other parts of the ground it is well maintained and looks very smart. It even has an elevated area, presumably for wheelchairs, which gives a good view of the pitch.

I continue along this stand to the end where ground backs onto a school and there is just some terracing along the length of this end.

This brings me back to the side of the ground where I came and from the goal end there is more terracing leading you back to the main stand which has seating for about 200. It sits on the half way line and you have a good view of the pitch and the rolling hills behind the far stand.

I take my seat in the stand and there are a number of Bala fans who have made the journey for today’s game. The game gets under way and Mossley are on the attack from the start and Bala look out of sorts as they struggle to get their game going. Predictably it is Mossley who open the scoring and what a good goal it is. Chris Rowney put in a looping shot from the left hand edge of the box and the ball goes over the keeper’s head. It’s one way traffic mainly with only occasional forays into the Mossley half which came to nothing. No further score meant Mossley went in a goal to the good at half time.

The second half began with Bala having made a couple of changes, significantly Mike Thompson who looked very lively, and these had the desired effect as Bala looked far better from the kick off, their passing had improved and they looked a real threat. The deserved equaliser came on 59 minutes when Thompson cut in from the right and and put a well placed shot beyond keeper Tyrer. Bala’s confidence grew and we know had a decent game with both sides playing some nice football and both having chances to go ahead. Further substitutions disrupted the game towards the end and it looked like a draw was the likely outcome. But with only a few minutes remaining the Bala hit the self destruct button. Bala failed to clear their lines and Jordan Goodeve was able to put Mossley back in front after 87 minutes later. The defence was all at sea now and Mossley created several more chances and scored another on 89 minutes after Steve Moore was allowed to weave his way through the centre of the Bala defence and score a great individual goal. The whistle went soon after and although I’m sure Bala would be disappointed with the final score I’m sure they would take heart from their second half performance.

This really a nice ground with plenty of character and I do not think you would be disappointed with a visit.

More pictures of Seel Park here.


Mossley 3-1 Bala Town
Att: N/A
Admission: £5
Programme: £0.50
Badge: None available!

1 comment:

  1. I went to Mossley last saturday and loved the ground (once i had found it, as i kept missing the turn off on the one way system).
    The people were very friendly and the pies were excellent. Its very well worth a tick !

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