Curzon hit Farsley for four

National League North: Curzon Ashton 4-0 Farsley Celtic

Curzon Ashton produced one of their best performances of the season to destroy Farsley Celtic and put the pain of last week’s defeat at Blyth Spartans well behind them.

The Nash dominated throughout and took a two-goal lead into the break thanks to Mike Calveley’s header and Josh Askew’s first for the club.

Two more Curzon loanees broke their duck in the second half as substitute Andy Scott pounced at the back post to settle the tie before Tunde Bayode lashed home a late fourth.

Farsley were pushing on the outskirts of the play-off places before this game but were way off the pace as Curzon earned a significant victory which moves them up one place to 19^th and four points ahead of the relegation zone.

There was a late scare for the Nash as Robbie Evans picked up a knock in training on Thursday night, but he shrugged that off to take his place in the starting line-up. The Welshman was captain for the day as Owen Watkinson – on loan for the rest of the season from Blackpool – was given the task of leading the line on his Nash debut in place of Nicky Wroe.

That was the only change as Mark Bradshaw sought a reaction from the painful loss at Blyth – and he got exactly that.

After a scrappy first 20 minutes, the Nash began to control proceedings and had already created several openings before taking the lead 10 minutes before the break.

Connor Dimaio’s pin-point pass released Askew who was making a great run behind the away defence. His shot was well blocked by Elliott Wynne but the Farsley goalkeeper was helpless from the resultant corner as Calveley nodded Isaac Sinclair’s ball into the far corner.

A flurry of chances and shots followed. Only a last-ditch goal line clearance denied Watkinson a debut goal while Farsley goalkeeper Wynne had to beat away efforts from James Baillie and Dimaio.

With worries beginning to creep in that a failure to take these chances would come back to bite in the second half, the next goal duly arrived. Dimaio’s low ball into the box found Calveley and although his effort was saved by Wynne, Askew was on hand to slide home the rebound from three yards out. 

The half time message was clear: no switching off and keep the pressure up. There have been occasions this season where the Nash have been caught cold in the second half but that wasn’t to be the case this afternoon.

Baillie tested Wynne with a 20-yarder while the two wingers Sinclair and Bayode stood out for their directness going forward and willingness to track back.

There were times where the Nash sat back and soaked up some Farsley pressure, but they did so with ease. Cam Mason hasn’t had many quieter afternoon’s in goal as he notched his ninth clean sheet of the season.

Scott came off the bench with just over quarter of an hour remaining and made an immediate impact to seal all three points. Dimaio’s effort looped off a Farsley defender and fell kindly for the on-loan Accrington Stanley forward who kept his cool to slam home at the back post.

Scott continued his electrifying cameo moments later by assisting Bayode for the final and best goal of the afternoon.

Curzon worked the ball well in midfield with Evans then driving into space before picking out Scott with an inch-perfect pass behind the Celtic defence. The winger showed great composure to look up and find the onrushing Bayode who rifled his first-time strike into the roof of the net, rounding off a fantastic afternoon at the Tameside Stadium.

Written by Sam Hendry

Picture by @Biddleofnowhere