Second time lucky for Curzon

Curzon Ashton made it through to the semi-final of the Manchester Premier Cup on Tuesday at the second attempt, after a shootout win over local rivals Stalybridge Celtic. 

The initial tie was played back in December, ending in a 4-1 win to the Nash, but after a rule breach in which Craig Mahon’s side fielded five substitutes rather than the permitted three, the match was to be replayed in its entirety. 

On a foggy night at Bower Fold it was the visitors who drew first blood, taking the lead on the stroke of half time when Isaac Sinclair latched onto a long ball from Devon Matthews and slotted past Charlie Monks in the Celtic goal. 

Their lead was doubled less than 15 minutes into the second half when Sinclair turned provider, slipping in his skipper Jimmy Spencer who swept the ball into the bottom left corner. 

Hosts Celtic then pulled one back soon after through new signing Benni Smales-Braithwaite, whose driven effort squirmed through the grasp of Bobby Jones at the near post. 

Jon Macken’s side then levelled the scoring 20 minutes from time when Kyle Brownhill volleyed home at the back post, before Lewis Rawsthorn completed the turnaround moments later- the Celtic forward picked the ball up with his back to goal just inside the Curzon half before turning his man and firing the ball into the bottom left corner. 

From there it looked like the home side would see out a remarkable win, but there was still time for more drama. 

Deep into added time Isaac Buckley-Ricketts was brought down in the Celtic penalty area, and with the referee pointing to the spot, it was down to Stefan Mols to level the scoring one again. 

The Spaniard made no mistake, sending the goalkeeper the wrong way and taking the game all the way to penalties. 

After five perfect kicks each, the shootout would then go to sudden death, and after Jack Tinning saw his effort sail over the bar, Curzon defender Timi Sobowale had the chance to win it for his side. 

The Irishman kept his cool and slotted the ball home to put the Nash into the semis. 

“There are better ways to win a game but when everyone looks at the result tomorrow, they’ll see Curzon are in the semi final,” Curzon boss Craig Mahon told the Reporter following the win. 

“That’s all that matters, we’ve got to make sure we take the positives from the game and try and learn from our mistakes.” 

Despite the loss, Stalybridge Celtic manager Jon Macken was pleased with his side’s performance: 

“The players deserve massive credit for the way they fought back from 2-0 down,” Macken told the Reporter following the defeat. 

“It’s just that bit of naivety, or perhaps tiredness that has killed us at the end with giving the penalty away. 

“The performance shows that we can compete with anybody, but we’re obviously very disappointed with the result- there are just little bits of sloppiness that are costing us at times.” 

The win sets up a Tameside derby in the semi-final, with Curzon travelling to the Project Solar Stadium to face Hyde United, date TBC.