Match preview by Leon Higgins
Last weekend’s defeat to Hereford at Edgar Street was a blow to the Nash’s promotion challenge but Craig Mahon’s side look to put that result behind them by travelling to another promotion rival in Chester.
The last 3 games have been tough for Curzon, with defeats against Marine and Hereford combined with a draw against Radcliffe in between, after a winning run that saw wins against Chorley and Radcliffe.
With The Nash facing two relegation threatened sides in Needham Market and Warrington to start April before facing promotion rivals in Spennymoor and Kidderminster, Curzon know every point is crucial.
With the top 7 in the league table all now playing 40 games compared to the Nash’s 38, the picture is starting to become clearer about who is going to win automatic promotion and make the play offs. Scunthorpe currently lead the way on 78 points, 2 points clear of Kidderminster. Brackley are in 3rd on 74, Chester on 73, Chorley on 68 and Hereford & King’s Lynn on 66 complete the play off places. Curzon sit on 65 points while Buxton are on 64 and Spennymoor on 63 are also part of the chasing pack.
Chester come into this fixture on the back of their own promotion rival defeat after losing at Scunthorpe last Saturday. Prior to that they had a mixed 4 games with wins against Warrington and Leamington after a defeat to Chorley and a draw to Needham Market. Chester haven’t made it easy in several games for themselves though with the win against Warrington coming after going behind, something they have gained 18 points from doing, the most in the league. With some tough fixtures upcoming against Hereford and Darlington, Chester themselves know that every point is crucial.
Head to Head
The first meeting between the two sides was 14 years ago on the 30th March 2011 in Chester’s first season after reforming, following the demise of Chester City and their title winning season.
The game ended 2-2 at the Deva Stadium with Curzon winning 3-1 at the Tameside Stadium which inflicted Chester’s biggest league defeat that season.
Since then there have been 13 fixtures between the sides with 12 of those clashes coming in the National League North with a FA Trophy clash also taking place. The Nash have won on 7 occasions with Chester claiming 5 victories while there have been 3 draws.
Last seasons game at Chester ended in a dramatic 0-0 with 2 yellow cards resulting in sendings off for Chester’s Keiran Burton and Curzon’s Jimmy Spencer.
Curzon Ashton
- Manager Craig Mahon made his 200th appearance against Hereford placing him 25th on the all time Nash appearance list.
- Michael Afuye goal last time out was Curzon’s 50th in the league.
- Jimmy Spencer has a combination of 19 goals and assists this season (11 goals and 8 assists) which is the joint 8th most in the league alongside Chester’s Tom Peers and Declan Weeks.
- Stefan Mols has scored 9 goals away from home, only Kidderminster’s Ashley Hemmings (15) and South Shields Paul Blackett (10) have more than the Spaniard.
- The 3 goals in the 2nd half conceded to Hereford means Curzon have only conceded 17 2nd half goals which is only bettered by Scunthorpe and King’s Lynn (15)
- The Nash have conceded the least amount of 1st half goals (11)
Chester
- Tom Peers is top goalscorer for The Seals this season with 17 goals. Only Ashley Hemmings (26), Paul Blackett (22) and Scunthorpe’s Callum Roberts (19) have more. 11 of Peers goals have come at home, only bettered by Paul Blackett and Ex-Leamington and now Shrewsbury striker Callum Stewart (12)
- Declan Weeks has 16 assists, the joint best in the league with Chorley’s Adam Blakeman.
- Only Spennymoor (57) and Needham Market (63) sit above Chester (69) in the FairPlay table.
- Only Kidderminster (23), Brackley (23), and Scunthorpe (22) have won more times than Chester (21) when taking the lead in a game, with Scunthorpe (7) and Brackley (6) the only two sides scoring more penalties than Chester this season.
Match Information
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