MOSSLEY 2, WEST DIDSBURY & CHORLTON 3
Super-sub Victor Abadaki scored an eight-minute hat-trick to single-handedly steer West Didsbury & Chorlton to victory at Mossley.
It looked as though the Lilywhites were coasting to victory when Mark Lees and Gee Baltazar put them 2-0 ahead just short of the hour – they had other chances to be even further in front.
There looked no way back for West Didsbury until Abadaki, one of the hottest properties in the North West Counties League took centre stage with three fabulous finishes.
“Impressive” was the word West Didsbury manager Paul Marshall used to describe the striker whose elder brother Godwin played for Mossley.
“With the league starting on Saturday, Victor was only going to play for 45 minutes as I looked at other things,
“But as you saw when he came on, he gives us a different dynamic.”
It is surprising Abadaki has not moved to a higher league because he has all the attributes to flourish further up the pyramid.
“We have big attendances and the crowd love Victor and he feels loved at our club,” he continued.
This was West Didsbury’s dress rehearsal for Saturday’s league opener at home to Pilkington.
Mossley’s league campaign, meanwhile, does not start until two weeks on Saturday.
They were again depleted in numbers – six were missing, nine were on Saturday – and this was a third straight loss.
“That was probably the best we played for the opening hour when we controlled the game,” explained manager Alex Craddock.
“I made substitutions I would never have done in a league game, so it is difficult to read too much into it.
“I am desperate not to get too emotional over 10 minutes. It is frustrating but I took a lot of positives from the match.”
Mossley were ahead in the 25th minute with a clinical finish from Mark Lees after Obua Mugalula’s initial shot was brilliantly kept out by Oliver Martin.
They doubled their lead 12 minutes into the second period when Baltazar latched onto a through ball before slotting home a low shot.
New signing Isaac Graham, who was previously at Witton Albion, and Mugalula both had clear chances to put further daylight between the teams.
Abadaki’s opener in the 66th minute saw him race onto Adam Danson’s through pass before cooly slotting home a low shot.
Kris Holt and Jordan Lazenbury helped set up the equaliser. When the Mossley defence failed to clear the danger, Abadaki was on hand to sweep home another well-executed finish.
The momentum had suddenly swung the way of West Didsbury and it was no surprise when Abadaki struck again heading home a right-wing cross from Adam Jones to complete his quickfire treble and leave Mossley shell-shocked as it was a game they seemingly had won.