Curzon's Youth March On

Curzon Ashton Under 18’s seal their place in the FA Youth Cup 3rd Round proper after recording a 3-2 victory over Oldham Athletic at the Tameside Stadium.

Despite going behind to an early break from Lewis McKinney, and later being pipped back through a set-piece, it was Curzon Ashton who took the valuable win and booked themselves a place in the third round of the FA Youth Cup.
 
The game kept a fast pace for the majority of the evening, with chances for both sides opening up in the first exchanges. The first big chance came for Oldham’s Jack Williams when he collected the ball on the edge of the box, and subsequently pulled his shot just wide of Lovell’s goal.
 
Oldham broke the deadlock in the 10th minute when a precise through ball was latched onto by McKinney, who had no issue in smashing the ball into the bottom corner of the Curzon goal, to give his Oldham Athletic an early lead.
 
Curzon found themselves level just ten minutes later when Keaton Mulvey took advantage of a rebound. The initial chance came when Adam Grewal was denied by a fantastic Ellis Allen save. However, Mulvey was bought down in the aftermath. 
 
Mulvey himself stepped up to take the resulting penalty, giving the keeper no chance as he smashed it home.
 
Five minutes later, things got even better for Curzon as they took the lead. This came when Oldham squandered possession in their own defensive third. Grewal found himself in space on the edge of the penalty area, and calmly slotted the ball into a relatively unguarded net, giving the home side the lead.
 
Just as it looked as if Curzon would be taking a lead into the break, some sloppy play led to a corner being given away right on the stroke of half time. Jack Grundy headed the ball past a helpless Liam Lovell, levelling the scores going into the break.
 
The second half started a little slower than the first, with a little more of a cagey feel to it. The first real chance of the second half came for Oldham, again from a corner. This, however, failing to beat a strong defence.
 
Curzon’s final breakthrough came when a corner routine was not dealt with by the Oldham players. A scrappy delivery fell to the feet of the prolific Mulvey, who got the better of both defenders and slotted the ball home, much to the delight of the Curzon supporters behind the goal.
 
With the clock ticking, the game began to open up further, with both teams creating chances. 
 
With 6 minutes of added time, it felt as if there could be another chance for Oldham, however, a resilient Curzon Ashton backline stood strong, and saw Mulvey’s second-half strike enough to see the Nash book their place in the next round of the FA Youth Cup at home to Burnley FC. 

Article By: Jack Earl