Match Preview by Leon Higgins

After last weekend’s, longest, 191 mile trip of the season to Merthyr, Mark Bradshaw’s side will be hoping to return back to winning ways against another play off chasing side in local rivals Radcliffe.

The Nash currently sit 9th in the league table on 31 points, two points off Darlington who occupy the last play off position.

After facing a Merthyr side that have exceed many people’s expectations in their first season at National League level, Radcliffe have arguably done the same. After finishing 20th in the league table last season, it’s been a contrasting season so far for The Boro who currently sit in 5th place.

The Boro’s last five games in the league though have seen a mix in form with 2 wins, 2 defeats and a draw. A 2-1 win last time out against Leamington came after claiming a 3-0 victory at Scarborough, which marked a good turn around after defeat’s to Chester and Southport and a draw with Telford. Radcliffe also exited the FA Trophy at the third round stage after losing 4-2 to Hereford on penalties after a 1-1 normal time draw at Edgar Street.

Radcliffe’s start to the season has also seen them claim many awards and accolades. The Boro have dominated team of the weeks with Olly Thornley (GW3), Rick Smith (GW5), Rio Clegg (GW6 and 9), Dan Gardner (GW8), Danny Greenfield (GW10), Callum McFadzean (GW11), Michael Afuye (GW12), Lois Maynard (GW13), David Ball (GW19) and Brad Roscoe (GW21) all featuring.

Rio Clegg was also named National League North player of the month an impressive September. Clegg came into this season as the NPL West Division’s top scorer last season after his spell at Trafford where he also scored three hat-tricks.

Head to Head:

This will be the 62nd meeting between the sides with 46 of those meetings coming across six different leagues. Boro and The Nash have met in the Manchester league, Cheshire league, North West Counties league, Northern Premier League division 1 and the Northern Premier League and now clashes have most recently come in the National League North.

The first meeting between the sides came in the Manchester league in 1967 which Curzon won 3-1. The League record stands at the Nash winning on 20 occasions, Radcliffe claiming 14 victories and 12 draws. In cup competitions, there has been 15 meetings between the sides with Curzon winning on 8 occasions, Radcliffe 4 and 3 draws.

Curzon Ashton:

• After his goal at Merthyr off the bench on Saturday, Brad Holmes has now scored the most goals off the bench in the league.
• Curzon are yet to win when falling behind.
• Only Buxton (6), Merthyr and Darlington (5) have scored more stoppage time goals than Curzon (4).

Radcliffe:

• Only Merthyr’s Ricardo Rees (14) has scored more goals away from home than Rio Clegg (9)
• Radcliffe are yet to lose when taking the lead.
• Radcliffe have scored 7 goals from headers. The joint amount in the league with Merthyr.

Management Preview:

Following last weekend’s game against Merthyr, Assistant Jack Salkeld shared his thought’s on the Boxing Day fixture:

Really looking forward to it, Boxing Day – everyone is in good spirits after Christmas Day, it’s going to be a tough game, Radcliffe are doing really well and (they have a) great management team and they’ve got some really good, experienced players – I think they’ve signed some really good players this season.

They know how to win games and they are hard to beat, we are at home, we’ll give them respect – there’s not a lot of difference in it points wise and we have to go into it full of confidence and stick to a plan and hopefully get the win.

Free Guinness & Guinness 0.0:

Fans attending our Boxing Day fixture can claim a free pint of Guinness or Guinness 0.0 by simply scanning the QR code on display inside the Tameside Stadium. Available to both 𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙚 & 𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙮 supporters

Club Chairman’s Junior Offer:

Wear your Curzon Ashton junior team shirt on Boxing Day and get FREE entry for you + 1 adult!

Match Information: Segregation will be in place for this fixture.