Match Report: Curzon Ashton 3-0 South Shields

South Shields fell to their first league defeat in five games as Curzon Ashton cemented themselves at the summit of National League North. The Mariners arrived in Manchester off the back of a 7-0 thrashing of Rushall Olympic and sat just one place outside of play-offs in eighth, knowing victory today could take them as high as third. A return from injury saw Will Jenkins make his first start since Spennymoor on November 16th in the place of Mackenzie Heaney who was ruled out with a dislocated finger sustained on Tuesday.  Coleby Shepherd came in for Bryan Taylor.

The visitors were also boosted by Lucas De Bolle’s return from a thigh problem, he made the bench after sitting out of the Rushall victory.

The hosts knew victory today could take them five points clear at the top, still with a game in hand over second place and they made the perfect start inside four minutes when some quick feet on halfway from the impressive Stefan Mols created a three on two situation in the Shields third. Mols’ ball into the box was initially cut out by Iestyn Hughes, however it fell kindly to forward, Jimmy Spencer, who showed excellent presence of mind to see his winger, Isaac Buckley-Ricketts in space on the right of the six-yard box and, as the linesman’s flag stayed down, the winger had a tap in at the back post to give Curzon Ashton an early lead.

Shields, who had fallen behind in their most recent away victory against Alfreton Town, responded here as they did then and when Robert Briggs’ superb searching ball found the chest of Tom Allan on eleven minutes, it dropped down onto the forward’s boot and his volley from eighteen yards was struck with venom however lacked direction as it fizzed centrally into the grateful arms of Curzon keeper, Bobby Jones, knowing anywhere to his left or right would have been beyond him.

These were good signs for the Mariners, though, as they kept possession expertly at the Tameside Stadium. However, they found themselves two goals down after just twelve minutes when Buckley-Rickett’s cross travelled all the way to the back post before being volleyed home by the unmarked Spencer from the right of the area, leaving Myles Boney stranded in the Shields goal as it trickled in off the post.

Despite starting brightly, two avoidable goals meant Shields were faced with a mountain to climb after fifteen minutes, and being away at the side with the best defence in the division, conceding just eleven goals all season, it looked a tricky prospect.

Paul Blackett, who was in the form of his life with seven goals in his last four games, was being kept quiet and forced to live off scraps as Curzon centre-back, Devon Matthews, shone at the back for the home side and kept the league’s top scorer away from the penalty area, propelling his side to dominance of proceedings.

On nineteen minutes, Sols then came close to putting the league leaders out of sight as they assumed control of the encounter. Some excellent feat from the midfielder took two Shields players out of the game, however Boney did well to claw his effort from the edge of the area away and keep his side in the contest.

While the atmosphere of under four hundred spectators, with fifty Shields supporters making the trip down to Manchester, was not creating the cauldron expected when playing away at top of the table, Craig Mahon’s side were creating their own noise on the turf with their physical defenders enough to contain the division’s top scorers and their livewire wingers combining with Mols and Isaac Sinclair in midfield to counter-attack with pace and guile at every opportunity.

The pattern of South Shields playing in the Curzon third, looking to break down the low block, before being hit by the speed of their opponents whenever their phases broke down, meant the half-time whilst blew with no more chances of note and the score at 2-0.

With the quality of De Bolle on the bench and the free-flowing scoring nature of the side, Shields certainly were not out of this as a contest. In a second half that followed a similar pattern to the first just with a little less intensity in the blustery and wet conditions, referee, Gareth Thomas, took centre stage as he firstly adjudged Sinclair to have dived in the penalty area for the home side, and booked the midfielder. This was responded to with much to the confusion from the crowd and bench, with Sinclair seemingly reluctantly falling with the goal at his mercy.

Tom Allan was then given the same treatment by Thomas on the hour as he was booked for simulation, turning on the edge of the box and collapsing under a challenge by Matthews. Whilst Allan was facing away from goal and was certainly not in the position Sinclair found himself in, there perhaps was not enough contact for a spot-kick, however a dive appeared harsh on first viewing.

Allan, making his second start for the Mariners after signing from Gateshead at the start of December, then came the closest the away side came to clawing their way back into the game when Jenkins found him and Blackett’s decoy run allowed the striker to enter the penalty area unchallenged and his low, curled effort was expertly tipped round the post by Jones.

Despite some superb Boney goal keeping to keep the hosts at bay on the counter, both shot-stopping and pace and initiative off his goal line to deny Buckley-Ricketts, the game was put to bed with ten minutes remaining when Luis Lacey came off the bench to latch onto a loose ball and cut inside onto his favoured left foot and rifle the ball in at the near post, thanks in part to a small deflection off Bryan Taylor, however the strike was true and the three points were going with the home side.

Shields, as always, played until the final whistle and looked to find a way through this resolute defence, however, they were unable to breach Curzon and the referee’s whistle after five minutes of added time signalled full-time on a disappointing afternoon for Elliott Dickman’s Mariners.

As the busy festive period is now upon us, Shields are back at the 1st Cloud Arena next Saturday, hosting Marine, before making the short trip to Spennymoor Town on Boxing Day to close out 2024. Shields drop from eighth to eleventh, however, remain just two points outside of the coveted play-off spots and know a productive Christmas and New Year run will have them in the conversation in the latter stages.

Curzon Ashton: Jones, Poscha, Matthews, Buckley-Ricketts (Worrall, 86), Sinclair (Sobowale, 83), Spencer (Mahon, 45’), Mols (Darby, 81), Hayhurst, Afuye (Lacey, 60), Richards, Barton

Goals: Buckley-Ricketts (4’), Spencer (12’), Lacey (79’)

South Shields: Boney, Hughes (Taylor, 45+2), Morse, Broadbent, Shepherd, Briggs, Mee (Crossley, 77), Jenkins, Smith (De Bolle, 66), Blackett, Allan

Unused substitutes: Seymour, Bramwell 

Attendance: 370

Image credit: Kev Wilson

(@KevWilson19)