Curzon denied statement win at the death

Curzon Ashton came agonisingly close to a statement win over title chasing rivals Scunthorpe United on Tuesday, with the hosts drawing level in the 93rd minute. 

The Nash had to find a response after their disappointing 1-0 loss to King’s Lynn Town last time out, and they started the match as though they had a point to prove. 

They went close early on when Isaac Buckley-Ricketts was played in by his namesake Isaac Sinclair, but the former Manchester City man was denied by a superb save from Iron goalkeeper Ross Fitzsimons. 

Craig Mahon’s side then went ahead just before the half-hour mark when Luke Griffiths cut the ball back to Sinclair who fired low into the bottom left corner. 

Hosts Scunthorpe then came close to levelling the scoring on the stroke of half time only to be denied by a superb double save from Bobby Jones, who dived to his left to keep out Callum Roberts’ effort before showing lightning quick reactions to deny Oliver Rose on the rebound. 

Curzon almost doubled their lead just five minutes into the second half when Isaac Buckley-Ricketts cut inside from the left and curled the ball towards the far post, but his effort was an inch too far to the right and cannoned back out off the woodwork. 

Bobby Jones was then forced into action once again just before the hour mark, tipping over Callum Roberts’ free kick with a brilliant flying save. 

Just as it looked like the away side would hold on and seal a crucial win, it was the Iron who had the final say, with Mo Fadera firing into the bottom left corner from the edge of the area to rescue a point for his side in the third minute of added time. 

“It hurts to concede late on after all the hard work the lads put in”, Nash boss Craig Mahon told the club’s YouTube channel following the draw. 

“But I’m immensely proud, we’ve come to a full-time team and put in a performance- this just has the be the norm for us going forward. 

“There were a couple of things leading up to the goal that we could’ve done a bit better with, but on the whole, I couldn’t really ask for more from the players. 

“It’s a tough one to take but in the long run we’ll look back on it and be happy with a point.” 

The draw sees Mahon’s side sit 8th in the National League North table, but with games in hand on most sides above them, there will be plenty of opportunities to get back into the title race in the coming weeks. 

This weekend sees The Nash travel to 11th placed Peterborough Sports.