Weekend football round-up: Curzon bounce back into the play-offs

A goal line clearance in stoppage time ensured Curzon Ashton leapt back into the National League North play-offs with a 1-0 home win against Warrington Town.

Isaac Sinclair’s 38th-minute goal was the difference in a scrappy encounter in which the Nash had the best of limited chances. 

Isaac Buckley-Ricketts came close to lobbing Dan Atherton in The Yellows’ goal early on, but his shot landed the wrong side the of woodwork. 

Lee Williams and Joe Rodwell-Grant kept Bobby Jones honest at the other end, but Sinclair broke the deadlock after captain Jimmy Spencer dragged the ball into his path for an assured finish. 

Curzon started the second half with a spring in the step, with Mike Afuye creating a chance for Spencer before shaking off his markers moments later to nod an Alex Curran cross over the bar himself moments later. 

Veteran midfielder Bohan Dixon almost capitalised on a misplaced clearance from Jones midway through the half, but it was Warrington’s last significant foray into Curzon territory until injury time. 

The visitors pumped a free kick into the Nash penalty area that former Hyde United stopper Atherton headed goalwards only for a well-positioned Stefan Mols - playing against his old club - to deny him at the death. 

It’s a result that condemned Warrington to relegation back to the Northern Premier League (NPL) after just two seasons, and push Curzon up to 5th place with a game in hand over the teams around them. 

“Obviously, I’m really happy with the result, but performance-wise it was probably one of our worst ones,” a relieved Craig Mahon said. “But I’ll take it all day long. 

“Going into these last five games it’s all about results. There are definitely some things for us to learn, but we’re grinding out results and we’ve had a tough couple of weeks. 

“I try not to overthink it. You can do that when you lose, and even though we’ve won I’m still thinking what we could be better at. 

“We’ve put ourselves in a better position than last year, that’s what I wanted us to do, but it’s not over yet. There’s still 15 points to play for and we want all 15.” 

Ashton United took a giant step towards securing their play-off berth in the NPL Premier Division with a 2-1 win at relegation battlers Basford United. 

Sean Newton gave the Robins the perfect start with a near-post header to give them a 5th minute lead.  

The player/assistant manager had already fired a warning shot against the Basford bows that Saul Denney tipped wide and came close again just after the goal when he fizzed a free kick over the bar. 

Both sides struggled to assert themselves for much of the first period, but Ashton has a golden opportunity to extend their lead moments before the break when Remi Efunnuga won a penalty. 

Although Deaney stopped Al Byrne’s subsequent spot kick, referee Gareth Davis ordered a retake after the keeper strayed off his line. However, the Basford number one repeated the trick from Byrne’s second attempt to keep the score at 0-1 at half-time. 

The home side began the second half with purpose, Tyreace Palmer heading over the bar before Matt Thornhill jabbed home following a melee in the Ashton box on 53 minutes. 

Steve Cunningham’s side pushed straight back with Darius Osei squandering a one-on-one with Deeney before Tyler Dacres, Palmer and captain Thornhill all came close for the Ambers. 

The game turned in Ashton’s favour when last man Revarnelle James saw red for bringing down Donald Chimalilo, the visitors taking advantage with a rare right-footed finish from Louis White in the 89th minute to seal a 2-1 win. 

Ashton have a five-point cushion over Ilkeston Town in 6th, while Basford almost certainly must win their final four games to avoid the drop. 

One of those matches will be against Hyde United who made heavy weather of beating basement side Blyth Spartans 3-2 at Ewen Fields. 

The already relegated away side stunned the stadium into silence on 5 minutes when Hyde keeper Callum Hiddleston whacked a clearance into the broad frame of Dean Briggs, who latched onto the loose ball to pass into an empty net. 

After weathering an early storm orchestrated by tricky winger Cyril Giraud, the Tigers hit back when Brad Holmes prodded home his 3rd goal in consecutive matches after Lewis Baker parried a Ben Kershaw shot into his path. 

Kershaw twice came close to putting Hyde ahead, while a Holmes shot across the face of goal kissed the far post on the stroke of half-time. 

Hyde looked more incisive straight after the break with Jack Redshaw ghosting in behind the Blyth defence to pick up a perfectly weighted Kershaw through ball. Baker took away the captain’s ankles and picked up a booking in conceding perhaps the season’s clearest penalty, which Redshaw tucked away for his 19th goal of the season. 

Briggs proved there was still life in a dogged Blyth, blasting in an equaliser from 25 yards on 54 minutes. 

Desperate for his hat-trick, the forward went into shoot-on-sight mode, but Nick Spooner had a couple of aces up his sleeve with the introduction of two loanees from Salford City. 

Sandro da Costa and Harry Showman made their debuts from the bench, both impressing with flashy footwork that culminated in 18-year-old Showman living up to his name with an impudent back flick to give Hyde the win. 

“It was tough,” said Tigers assistant boss Martin Coyne. “The conditions didn’t help – a very strong wind, probably stronger than people would think. 

“It was stop/start, which is probably the story of our season. The gaffer swapped things around at half-time; we looked to get in behind more and play a bit quicker, but Blyth gave a good account of themselves and played very well. 

“Shout out to young Harry Showman with a fantastic finish to win us the game. He looked lively when he came on.” 

In the NPL West, Stalybridge Celtic made it three wins on the spin with a narrow 1-0 victory at manager Jon Macken’s old club, Witton Albion. 

Joe Duckworth scored the only goal of the game in the 6th minute as Bridge looked to keep pressure on the play-off hopefuls above them. 

The result leaves Stalybridge in 6th place, five points behind 5th-place Chasetown with just four games to play. 

Two first half goals from Eric Yahaya sealed Mossley’s place in the division for another season with a 2-0 win over Bootle. 

In the North West Counties (NWCFL), Glossop North End ticked off their road trips for the season with a solid 2-0 win at the seaside over relegation favourites Squires Gate. 

Second half strikes from Lewis Reilly and captain Lee Rick were enough to secure the three points and leave the home side needing wins from their final two games to stay afloat. 

In the First Division North, Droylsden sank to a second successive defeat in their penultimate game of the regular season, going down 2-0 at Maine Road. 

Dave Pace’s side will take part in the play-offs, but whether they play at home or travel to Barrow to face Holker Old Boys could depend on whether they beat relegated Garstang next week. 

New Mills’s up-and-down season in the First Division South can almost be put to bed after they went down to a 1-0 home defeat against Allscott Heath – their sixth loss in seven games.