Curzon Ashton

Monday 23rd August - Evo Stick North
Curzon Ashton 2 v Chorley 6
Attendance: 230  Admission: £7
Ground:Only 2 sides very open and windy
Conditions: Very wet, pitch looked excellent and despite the amount of rain was still hard on top !
Food/Drink: Coffee £1 - Worst Pie so far this season £1.60  1/10
Total Mileage:44
Match Entertainment : 9/10 Cracking game, end to end, loads of goals.

Pics of Curzon's Ground (40)
Short vids of the game ....

I arrived in East Manchester earlier than expected and duly ended up killing time in of all places Ikea. Before you pass judgement, my reason for  going in there was due to the strong rain storms and there was no where to keep cover except in my car. I was not certain the game would go ahead , such was the strength of the rain. But on arrival at the ground i noticed the pitch was an excellent one and drainage would be a problem.

I spent quite a bit of time whilst waiting for the gates to open chatting with this guy who had millions of opinions about other teams, players and football in general. He was so upbeat about Curzon i asked who he was, his answer was .. "I am the Manager" ! took me by suprise considering the length of time we had been talking for.. "watch us win tonight" he said with incurable optimism. I liked the chap and could of chatted with him for longer.

I liked this modern ground and it seemed quite a relaxed atmosphere within the set up , after taking my usual photos i went for some food , which later i wish i hadn't. Curzon already get my vote as worst pie of the season , it was awful. Whilst i was washing down the awful pie with my coffee an old boy from Chorley informed me that this was the best side he had seen in 40 years of following them , some accolade i thought. He also said "watch the number 9, hes not bad" and then after 15 seconds ! of the match start he had already had the ball in the Onion Bag ... Curzon 0 Chorley 1 and then less than a minute later the Curzon defender slipped on the wet pitch and conceded a penalty 0-2 after 1 minute !! it was a bizarre start to an important game. Then by the 5th minute Curzon pulled a goal back 1-2 ! what a great start !. Walking around the ground i noticed quite a few hoppers, mainly due to no other games on in the area and they had to get their "footy fix" , even in the cold wind and rain , what silly people i thought but then realised i was one of them !

Chorley got another penalty just before half time to make it 3-1.

Curzon apply 2nd half pressure

The second half was the best of the season so far , 4 more goals, yet another penalty, great end to end attacking football and some crunching tackles by both teams ... what a cracking match it has been Chorley in the end ripped Curzon apart and looked very impressive. The Chorley fans gave their players and very well deserved standing ovation whilst a shell shocked Curzon team disappeared down the tunnel.

FULL TIME : Curzon 2 v Chorley 6