King's Lynn 1 Mossley 2
28th August 1982
A GAME that Lynn could have won was snatched away by Mossley in the 88th minute.It was winger Malcolm Wagstaffe who broke away front the ineffectual Lynn defensive covering to slot in his second gift goal.
Mossley could hardly believe their good fortune.
They had arrived late at The Walks - for which they face a Northern Premier League fine - were soon a goal down and then having been given an equaliser saw the Linnets gain a penalty which was missed.
Linnets manager Keith Rudd could hardly believe it either. "We could have been two or three goals up before they even had a look in," he said. "Then we give a goal away and our confidence goes."
He added: "In our three matches we have not met a side who have outplayed us at all, yet we have got only one point out of nine. We have been made to pay for individual errors and hopefully the players will learn from it and not make the mistakes again.""
Rudd included himself in the line-up for this game and added much to Lynn's forward play - so much so that any other manager would keep him in the side.
A pass from Rudd in the third minute set up Lynn's first goal, his centre picking out Chris Watts who carefully steadied himself before slotting a shot past Steve Bradley.
Just after this. Bradley went down to keep out a well-struck effort from Rudd which looked destined for the corner of the net and in another goalmouth skirmish a corner from Gordon Hodgson was somehow missed by Rudd and Chapman.
Mossley, a side who can never be discounted, began to show more organisation in their play but it was still down to the Linnets that they equalised in the 18th minute. Andy Bircumshaw did not put enough power into a header back to Andy Claxton and in nipped Wagstaffe to score with ease.
In the 43rd minute Gorman was the culprit when handling in the area to give Lynn the chance to regain the lead. Easthall was given the shot, but it lacked power and Bradley's dive was enough to save it.
Mossley were playing their usual defensive game with a sweeper and certainly looked stronger at the back than Lynn who were sadly missing Richard Johnston who was unavailable for the game.
In patches Lynn did put together some excellent moves, when going forward and managed to split the Mosslcy defence. however on one occasion Watts miscued his shut when well placed. Later on Rudd cut in behind the defence to meet Chapman's cross and his header went across the six yard box and just beyond the reach of Hodgson.
Mossley still patiently soaked it up and tried to set Wagstaffe or the speedy centre forward Page into striking positions. Wagstaffe was foiled by Claxton's reflex save when he put in a close range header and the winger then put a shot wide from another good position. The third time Wagstaffe got through he did not make the same mistake, getting past McJannet and sliding his shot past Claxton.
That was a disaster for Lynn who were then robbed of an injury little equaliser when Bircumshaw's header was cleared off the line.
There was some sympathy for the Linnets from the Mossley manager who thought that when Keith Rudd's team had settled into a pattern they would be a force in the league. Perhaps so, but the team and the fans, would have preferred three points on Saturday to hope for the future.
Lynn: Claxton: McJannet. Bircumshaw, Johnston, Wiles, Watts. Hodgson, Elliott. Easthall: Rudd, Chapman: sub Thompson.
Mossley: Bradley, Phillips, Garmory, Tilley, Duff, Warrender, Szabo, Gorman. Page, O'Connor, Wagstaffe: sub Roberts.
Referee: J. Krawiec (Goole). Attendance: 440