At a
wind-swept Tameside Stadium Curzon twice took the lead but had to be content
with a share of the spoils.
The football wasn't great, mainly due to the swirling wind which either took the
ball away from the players or virtually blew it straight back at them, and no
doubt with the league title finely balanced, nerves would have played a major
part, at least for the home side.
The first opportunity on goal came in the 11th minute when Mike Norton gave
chase to a through ball. With keeper James Mann racing off his line Norton was
forced to go wide, and pulled the ball back from the bye-line to the incoming
Rhodri Giggs, but his shot was well over the top from 18 yards.
The early pressure from Curzon paid off on 17 minutes when a ball in from the
right was met by Chris Worsley, with his shot striking the underside of the bar
before bouncing down over the line and into the roof of the net, but the lead
lasted only two minutes.
Having conceded a free kick wide on the left the Tameside outfit then failed to
deal with the ball into the area which was knocked down by Jonathan Smith to the
feet of Anthony Johnson who drove home from eight yards out.
Norton restored Curzon's lead on 34 minutes after Jorge Gazapo had created space
for himself before feeding his team mate. With Mann once again trying to close
down his space the front man this time slid the ball across the keeper and into
the net.
Norton was only inches away from scoring his second and his sides third goal
when a cross from Nick Allen to the far post had Mann struggling, and a
desperate lunge at the ball by Norton just failed to make contact.
Former Mossley player Danny Toronczak was brought into the action just after the
hour mark, and like the reverse game, his introduction brought positive results
for his side, as Curzon failed to adequately clear their lines, and with the
ball played to Toronczak he drove it across Carnell and into the bottom corner
of the net.
It's a tight affair at the top of the UniBond North Division One with only two
points separating the top three, with Curzon Ashton in second place, just one
point behind leaders Bradford (Park Avenue).
If Curzon don't win the league title as we go into the final week of the season,
they are now all but certain to play their semi-final play-off position at home,
a game which will take place on Monday 28 April. KO 7.45.
Secretary Graham Shuttleworth said "With the play-offs coming so quickly after
the end of the league games it's all something of a rush, and if we're involved
we may not even know who we play until Saturday evening.
"If we finish second, then we play the fifth placed team, while the third placed
team will also have home advantage in their game.
"With all the up's and down's during the run-in, anything could happen before
Saturday so all we could ask those who want to see the game, if we don't go up
automatically of course, is either to check for details on our website or to
make contact with the club on Sunday or Monday. There'll at least be a message
on the answer machine if they don't get to speak to anyone.
"We've also got the learning disability international challenge match between
England and Holland on Sunday so it could all be a little fraught at the
weekend."
The club phone number is (0161) 300 6033 and the website address is
www.curzon-ashton.co.uk