Although Altrincham were suffering from a long injury list, they fielded enough first-teamers to have been able to win. However, move after move broke down with a bad pass, poor ball control or a wayward shot as Mossley closed down the home side with great effectiveness. The only consolation can be that this was not a league match. Nevertheless, the loss of potential F.A. Cup revenue is a severe blow to the Club.

Mark Ward had a cartilage operation yesterday and Jason Gallagher and Eddie Turkington also remain injured. Mossley were apparently at full strength and came into this match on the back of ten successive victories in league and cup matches.

The keeper raced back to his line just in time to see a looping shot clear his cross-bar. Michael Garrity showed some nice early touches for Altrincham and it was his prompting pass to Farley which, via Power, set up a shot for Steve Hawes that was blocked, but rebounded to Scheuber. His half-hit shot went tamely wide (2 mins). Mossley's impressive Danny Murphy then set a first-half pattern with the first of at least five winning headers against Steve Porter from long balls played to him on the right wing but it was the home side who should have gone ahead in the third minute.

Richard Landon picked up a loose ball in a central, forward position and played it in to Kevin Ellison on the six-yard line. Kevin's first touch was poor and instead of the ball being buried in the back of the net, it was cleared by a defender. Shortly afterwards a sustained passing move involving Hawes, Garrity, Ellison and Farley ended when Steve Burns slid the ball into touch for a corner to Altrincham (6 mins).

Nothing came of this but almost immediately, Mossley defender, Paul Taylor, missed the ball and let in Richard Landon, who allowed Kevin Ellison to take over possession but Kevin's shot was not cleanly hit and it was fortunate for Altrincham that it hit a defender to gain another corner (6 mins), albeit an unfruitful one. Scheuber was the next to try his luck, following a great tackle by Maddox on Dicken, but Stuart's shot went well wide (8 mins).

Though Murphy got past Porter at the other end, the danger was cleared and allowed Power and Scheuber jointly to contrive a corner for their side (10 mins). McMahon was the next to be called into action, rushing out to intercept Murphy's through ball aimed at Wardle. After a foul had been awarded for a tackle on Power, some 40 yards from the visitors' goal, Scheuber's nice touch set up a Hawes shot which, however, went comfortably over the bar. Altrincham's shooting throughout this match left much to be desired.

Altrincham continued to press and an excellent chip from Garrity, twenty yards out, forced the Mossley keeper, Tommy Allen, into an acrobatic parried clearance with his left hand (12 mins). Mossley's Murray gave the ball away, not for the first or last time in the match, but Altrincham were not able to capitalise on the possession gained.

Indeed, Mossley now began to come into the game. First, Evans lifted the ball over Garrity to Murray. He passed to Wardle, who beat Talbot out on the Altrincham right but the ball fell safely for McMahon. Encouraged by this, Dicken fed Murphy, who got the better of Porter once more in the air but again the move fizzled out (15 mins).

However, Maddox was soon drawn into a foul tackle on Wardle and after the referee, for some reason had a word with Garrity, the free-kick was taken some 22 yards from McMahon's goal, on the left side of the box viewed from the Mossley end. Dicken curled it over the wall and also over the despairing leap of McMahon who had come, perhaps, too far off his line. The ball entered the centre of the net to give Mossley the lead, somewhat against the run of early play (17 mins). The sizeable Mossley contingent celebrated loudly.

Play resumed with Murphy again beating Porter, as Altrincham were now penned back into their own half. Whilst this foray came to nothing, Murphy's next encounter with Porter led to the ball coming inside to Wardle, whose firm shot from 15 yards struck the outside of McMahon's left post. From the resultant corner, the ball came out to Burns who shot well wide from 20 yards (21 mins). Dicken hit a forty yarder respectably close to goal after a clearing Maddox header fell to him as Mossley now played with their tails up.

After a sequence of three Altrincham throws, Scheuber won a corner which Garrity took but after Landon had played the ball back in, it was cleared. This was to be Landon's last significant contribution for Mark Ward made an early substitution. He brought on Ian Craney to replace Landon in what was presumably a tactical rather than enforced change (25 mins). Ellison moved up front alongside Power as Craney slotted into midfield.

Wardle relieved the pressure by winning a Mossley corner (28 mins) as the thunder stopped and the rain stopped falling. However, Altrincham moves continued to peter out with poor final balls as Mossley comfortably held on to their lead. A short stoppage was necessary for treatment to McMahon after he had two attempts to hold a long-range shot (32 mins).

Dicken maintained the Mossley momentum by winning a corner before Altrincham at last put together a decent move, started and finished by Scheuber. The midfielder exchanged passes with Power and Porter before his run was stopped well by Allen at the cost of a corner. Altrincham then won another corner, somewhat fortuitously, when Farley's indifferent ball came off a Mossley knee. Altrincham's corners rarely threatened a goal throughout the game and this one by Garrity was no exception.

For Mossley, Dicken, Murray and Wardle combined well but the final cross, from Paver, was met by a fine clearing header from Talbot (39 mins). Evans and Brennan then threatened before an offside decision stopped their advance. Following a 30-yarder from Scheuber which was far too high to trouble Allen, Mossley won another corner on their right but nothing came of it.

A scrappy few minutes saw the half-time whistle approach with Ellison's long-range shot well over the bar being the last offering of note before the interval. Although Altrincham had enjoyed the better of the opening stages of the half, Mossley were good value for their half-time lead.

Altrincham tried to press forward but their passing movements continued to break down and Ellison's weak shot past the post, after a pass from Glendenning (53 mins), was the most they had to show for their efforts. Ellison produced a better effort, just over the bar (55 mins), after a move which saw Crowe's sweeping cross-field pass to Garrity moved on to Farley and then Hawes. Mossley's Brennan made way for Harvey Cunningham (56 mins).

Mossley's only threat at this stage was when Glendenning left a ball for McMahon which he should have cleared but the young keeper raced out to clear. The resultant throw led to a corner, won by Murphy off Crowe, on the right (57 mins). Although a foul by Cunningham on Garrity yielded a freekick, Altrincham lost possession and a break by Wardle and Murphy forced a great save from McMahon at the feet of the latter, with both attackers enjoying far too much space at the heart of the home defence. The respite for Altrincham was short-lived.

After Wardle had beaten Farley and seen his shot blocked, the ball came to Evans out on the left side. His excellent back-flick bemused Altrincham and Burns, moving through the centre swept the ball home from 15 yards to make the score 0-2 (61 mins).

Altrincham continued to squander their chances. After Ellison had won a corner, Hawes's flag-kick was poor and the home side's passing movements continued to break down. Mossley showed how it should be done with a sweeping movement involving Wardle, Cunningham and Burns which ended in an Evans header from the edge of the box (66 mins), which McMahon saved.

At the other end Burns conceded a corner to Garrity which Allen punched clear before Scheuber put a long shot wide of the Mossley keeper's left post (69 mins). At this point Mike Garside, a former Alty player, replaced Keith Evans for Mossley as his new side continued to close down his old side well. Murphy nipped off for one of several bouts of spray-treatment to his thigh as Altrincham's efforts continued to founder well short of goal.

At last, however, from a Crowe pass, Garrity fired in a testing shot which Allen did well to tip onto the cross bar and out for a corner (72 mins). Garrity took the kick which came out to Scheuber whose shot from 18 yards went wide. However another Altrincham corner soon followed (73 mins) from which Scheuber's firm header smacked against the cross bar.

Clearly, it was not to be Altrincham's day. Mossley substituted Murray by Gary Thomas (74 mins) before Craney shot over the bar from distance (76 mins). Altrincham were enjoying a lot of possession and all did not yet seem lost. However, Mossley delivered a warning when Crowe lost the ball to Murphy and Garside back-heeled the ball to Cunningham. With plenty of time to consider his options, the sub measured a chip shot but put it wide of the target (78 mins). Altrincham, for their part, were getting little change out of the Mossley central defence where Taylor beat Ellison repeatedly in the air.

Altrincham did get the ball into the net after 81 minutes when Allen spilled a high catch but he had clearly been barged by Garrity after gathering the ball. Play stopped as Murphy, Glendenning and the keeper were simultaneously treated for injuries. When the action resumed it was only for Power to blast a half chance high into Golf Road but when Scheuber was fouled by two men as he crossed the edge of the Mossley box, a threatening free-kick was awarded to Altrincham in a central position.

Cunningham was booked for this offence by Mr Dunn. Garrity's shot almost inevitably hit the eight-man wall and fell for Allen. Mossley were still looking dangerous on the break as Altrincham left their defensive cover at low levels as they sought a goal. The home side paid the price when Power passed to Crowe, who was dispossessed in centre-field. Taylor fed Wardle, who got the ball to Garside, inside the box.

Garside expertly sidestepped McMahon's dive and took the ball to his left. As defensive cover arrived on the goal-line, Garside coolly slotted the ball home for a fine goal which sealed the result (86 mins). After the restart Altrincham's Hawes soon won a corner off Murphy as the stand began to empty. Ian Craney finished off a move involving Garrity, Power and Farley with a shot that was well wide.

Allen then held a good cross from Hawes (89 mins) but he caught Glendenning as he did so and the big Altrincham man needed treatment. The game ended seconds after Scheuber's skill had let in Craney, whose pass to Ellison ended with a great save from Allen at point blank range.

To describe this game as a disappointing Altrincham performance would be an understatement. Injuries did play a significant part in team selection but Altrincham would still have expected to defeat a team two leagues below them.

Few players performed to their potential; Garrity and Scheuber had some good moments and Hawes, as ever, battled hard though less effectively than normal. The back four had some difficulties, particularly on the flanks and the side's passing game rarely ended with a threat to the visitors' goal. Ryan McMahon got off to an unfortunate start with the first goal but otherwise could not be faulted for Mossley's victory.

Altrincham's shooting was generally poor and Ellison and Power were unable to escape from the well-organised Mossley defence. The visitors showed the greater will to win and look far too good for the N.W. Counties League. It is to be hoped that Altrincham can regroup and lift their game for Tuesday's clash with Stalybridge.