Match report by Oli Biddle

Curzon traveled to the midlands for a fixture against Leamington FC (The Brakes), The Nash hoping to continue their fantastic season so far with the game also offering a chance for the closely fought “Christmas number 1”.

There was one change for The Nash following last week’s dominant display in the league, with Ben Darby coming in to make his first league start in a Curzon shirt, replacing Jimmy Spencer.

The 1st chance of the game fell to the away side, Mike Afuye cutting in from the right and firing a shot that was well palmed away by the Leamington keeper, Callum Hawkins. The Brakes should have taken the lead on 12, after 2 great saves from Bobby Jones, the ball fell to the returning Dan Turner who put the ball wide from 8 yards when it looked easier to score.

It was however the home side who broke the deadlock on 14, a long range volley from the brakes captain Adam Walker was spilled by Jones, the ball dribbled over the goal line and it was 1-0.

More poor play from Curzon followed with the Leamington front 3 continuing to cause problems for The Nash and on 35, it was 2-0, the dangerous Callum Stewart nodding a header over Jones. This was same back line that previously had only conceded 11 in 21 games and it could have been 4/5 by half time, fortunately for Curzon, it was just 2 as the whistle went.

Two Nash changes came at the break, Manager Craig Mahon and Luke Griffiths replacing Darby and Afuye, this saw Barton move up front to act as a target for The Nash going into the 2nd half.

The half nearly descended into chaos at around 55’. After a number of strong challenges by both sides, it was Will Hayhurst who ended up with a booking against his name. A minute later, Curzon threw the kitchen sink at it. Timi Sobowale entering the field for Jordan Richards, Devon Matthews moved to an unfamiliar No.9 role and just a minute later Curzon were back in it. A ball into the box fell to Stefan Mols, who tucked it home, 2-1.

Chances fell for Mahon, Sobowale and Marcus Poscha following a succession of corners for The Nash and with 15 to go, Luis Lacey entered the field replacing the unusually quiet, Isaac Buckley Ricketts.

The game then again turned into a wrestling match, with Poscha and Stewart ending up on the deck following an 11 v 11 “brawl”, Griffiths and Jack Edwards for the hosts getting booked, along with a Nash player on the bench.

With 6’ to go and Curzon pushing for an equalizer, a quick break away left Stewart with an easy finish to make it 3-1. The goal meaning Stewart has scored 50% of all of the Brakes’ goals this season. More naivety followed, with Curzon conceding again on 89’ to a break away being outnumbered, Stewart completing his hat-trick making it 4-1 (a repeat of the last time the 2 sides met).

Despite the result, the overall picture for Curzon continues to look promising and they do indeed head into Christmas day, TOP OF THE LEAGUE.