Chester FC V Curzon Ashton - Match Thread #16 - Vanarama National Leag
Our last match was on Saturday as we lost 1-0 at home against Marine in the Emirates FA Cup 4th Qualifying Round in what was yet another cup embarrassment. The first period was a drab one because although we did maintain the bulk of possession, we were too lazy and created nothing with it. A stalemate at the interval was absolutely the right judgement on what was an average 45 at best. Sadly, we were unable to wake up to that as our second half showing was even worse. After the hour mark though we had a golden chance to break the deadlock, as Danny Elliott smashed against the crossbar following a flurry of chances for us. With time ticking and our frustration levels increasing, Marine were handed a penalty with not long left on the clock due to a handball. James Barrigan belted the ball as hard as he could to give Louis Gray no chance, therefore making it 1-0 to Marine. We only came alive in the final few moments, although we were hard done by on this occasion as a Danny Livesey header was somehow ruled out for offside - despite him being yards on. We found the net again in injury time, this time George Waring, but his strike was disallowed due to offside in the build-up. We got what we deserved as our lack of desire and valiant defending by Marine resulted in yet another early cup exit.
Curzon Ashton will be making the trip from Greater Manchester having had a solid start to the campaign. The Nash are unbeaten thus far and despite them flirting with the relegation spaces in recent campaigns, many people expect them to be the surprise package this time out due to their excellent Summer transfer window. Our Lancashire opponents signed highly-rated players such as Dominic Knowles, Max Harrop, Paul Turnbull, and Alex Curran to name just a few, who have significantly bolstered their side. We will be up against three former Seals this evening, who are Matty Waters, Craig Mahon, and Paul Turnbull. Firstly, left back Matty graduated from our Academy in 2016 where he was often on the outskirts of our squad in his first couple of seasons, before he really shown his true mettle in his last two years here when given the chance. Unfortunately Matty ended up playing in dribs and drabs without a serious run of games, which resulted in him leaving us in the Summer of this year to sign for his present club, Curzon Ashton, in his quest for regular football. Meanwhile, left winger Craig endured a legendary seven year spell here having joined us from Vauxhall Motors in 2013, where he broke our appearance record and particularly shone in the 2014-15 season. Mahony departed us back in January to join Altrincham, but he wasn’t there for long as he signed for Curzon Ashton back in the Summer. Lastly, centre midfielder Paul had a spell here in the dismal 2017-18 season where he turned out to be a huge disappointment following his departure from Barrow, hence he left the Deva in 2018. Turnbull signed for Curzon Ashton again in the Summer following a successful spell at Stockport County.
Unfortunately home games against Curzon Ashton have turned out to be annual 1-0 defeats in recent years, and on both occasions they were smash-and-grab wins. Both games were also pretty similar to the Marine one on Saturday as we had most of the possession, but Curzon parked the bus for most of the games and were there for the taking, although thanks to our wastefulness they managed to snatch winners. I don’t expect Curzon to play for the draw tonight though as their squad contains loads of quality compared to their recent teams, so I expect them to be much more attacking which we must we wary of. A scrappy 1-0 win will do just so that we can get over Saturday a little bit, therefore that is my prediction. Come On City!
Score: Chester FC (Weeks) 1-0 Curzon Ashton
Attendance: 0 (0 Curzon Ashton)
My predicted lineup:
Gray
K.Roberts Livesey Grand Taylor
Jackson Glendon Weeks Bauress
Hughes Elliott
COYS!