Match Preview by Leon Higgins

Tuesday’s six goal thriller, resulted in The Nash getting a good point on the road at play off chasing Darlington.

A free kick from Jack Stobbs equaled the score following an early opening goal for Darlington, before an own goal and a Tony Weston volley resulted in The Nash leaving Blackwell Meadows with a point.

Mark Bradshaw’s side sit 8th in the league table, a point off Darlington who occupy the final playoff place.

Curzon head into the latter end of the month hoping to extend their unbeaten run following a three game unbeaten streak, consisting of a 1-0 win last weekend against Worksop Town and an FA Trophy Second Round Proper win against Ilkeston Town.

The Coasters have a familiar face amongst their ranks, with manager Craig Mahon in charge. Mahon left the Nash in the summer to join Fylde and has since been successful with Fylde sitting second in the league table.

Mahon said he wanted to bring the positive times back to AFC Fylde following their relegation from the National League and after his appointment in the summer and he certainly did that in August with five wins and only one loss which saw him nominated for manager of the month.

Ryan Colclough’s four goals and an assist saw him just pip teammates Luca Thomas and Danny Ormerod for an October nomination.

Recent form in their last five games has seen three wins and two defeats. Defeats to Fulwood Amateur in the Lancashire FA Challenge Trophy alongside a home defeat to Buxton in the league. Wins however have come against Alfreton, Spennymoor in the FA Trophy and last time out against Macclesfield where they won 5-1 at Mill Farm.

Head to Head:

The Nash have played the Coasters 18 times, six times in Northern Premier League Div 1, three times in the FA Trophy and nine times in the National North.

The head to head reads eight wins for the Nash while the coasters have also claimed eight victories, with two draws (the last one being all the way back on 5th March 2011)

Curzon Ashton:

• Charlie Weston has five assists this league campaign are the 8th most in the league.
• Brad Holmes, Tony Weston and Joe Rodwell-Grant all have two goals off the bench. Only Fylde’s duo of Jonathan Ustabasi (4) and Danny Mayor (3) have more.
• Curzon are joined by South Shields, Marine, Radcliffe and Hereford in not being beaten while leading.

AFC Fylde:

• The Coasters have dominated the league’s team of the week with, Jon Ustabasi (GW1), Danny Mayor (GW3), Max Taylor (GW4), Danny Ormerod (GW5, GW7, GW11, GW12, GW18), Alex Healy Byrne (GW6), Luca Thomas (GW8, GW10, GW13, GW15), Ryan Colclough (GW9, GW11), Zac Jones (GW13), Tom Whelan (GW18) all featuring. Thomas GW9 selection came in an abandoned game against Leamington. Fylde were leading 4-0.
• Only Merthyr’s Ricardo Rees (23) and Bedford’s Tyrone Marsh (16) have more goals than Danny Ormerod (12)
• Merthyr’s Lewys Twamley (12) is the only man with more assists than Luca Thomas (8)
• Glen Taylor (Spennymoor) and Ricardo Rees (Merthyr) are the only players with six goals that have more than Jonathan Ustabasi (4)

Management Preview:

Speaking following Tuesday night’s 6-goal thriller against Darlington, Head Coach Mark Bradshaw looked ahead to this weekend’s (29.11.25) game.

It’s a game that I’m sure all of our players are looking forward to, a quality team that is at the top end of the table.

We know their management team, not only the manager – their assistant manager as well, they were both at Curzon and it’s one we’ve been looking forward to and we’ll be prepared and we’ll go into that game with a plan to try and make it difficult for them and to try and get a positive result.

Tameside Toy Collection:

Curzon Ashton FC is supporting the Tameside Toy Appeal this Christmas and we are delighted to be an official drop-off point.

If you’d like to make a donation, bring your gift to the game against AFC Fylde and help make a difference this Christmas.

For more information & gift suggestions, click HERE

Happy Hour:

Ahead of Saturday afternoon’s fixture the Nash Bar within the stadium will be open from twelve o’clock and will be holding a ‘happy hour’ between 12-2pm with all pints of lager and cider available for £4.

Match Information:

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