Match Report by Matt Stephens
Neither side could find a finish at The Brewery Field in Curzon’s 15th National League North game of the season despite the Moors boasting one of the division’s top scorers in Isaac Fletcher.
The result comes after two losses in a row and is crucial for the Nash to recover some form following a difficult week.
The hosts had the first chance when Tom Allan received the ball in the box in the fourth minute, but he couldn’t beat Jones with his outside-of-the-boot effort who saved the attempt well.
An injury to Curzon captain, Jimmy Spencer, saw him replaced by Luis Lacey in the 19th minute.
Allan proved a threat again in the 26th minute when the ball came in to him from the left flank, only for his effort on the edge of the box to be deflected wide to save Curzon from going behind.
Five minutes later Spennymoor’s Fletcher steamed through the Nash defence and found himself with the chance to finally put his side ahead, but he couldn’t keep his shot down and it sailed comfortably over the bar.
Curzon eventually had an opportunity of their own when, in the 41st minute, Luis Lacey tidily played Stefan Mols through on goal on the left hand side of the hosts’ box, only for keeper Brad James to block the shot at his near post.
Spennymoor came close again just before half time as the ball evaded everyone in the box, only to fall at Rob Ramshaw’s feet before his effort was well defended by the Nash.
As the sides walked down the tunnel at half time, Curzon could reflect on a quiet half in which their opponents had the better of the chances, but it was all still to play for in the second half.
Mahon’s side started the second half with intent when Isaac Buckley-Ricketts broke with speed which saw the ball find Devon Matthews just inside the box, but James was the hero again in the Spennymoor net as he got behind the shot and ended the chance.
The Moors had two good chances in a matter of minutes as Allan sent an effort well over the bar, only for Ramshaw to try to test Jones with a header that was comfortable for him to save.
Curzon emulated the most recent Spennymoor effort in the 59th minute when the ball flew towards Adam Barton from the left hand side, with his header easy for the goalkeeper to collect.
The story of headers directly at the goalkeeper continued seven minutes later when Devon Matthews fired an effort at James in the Spennymoor goal that kept the deadlock intact.
Matthews showed his brilliance at the other end of the pitch in the 71st minute after he charged down a breaking Moors attacker and put in a fantastic block inside the box to keep the score level.
Curzon’s final threatening chance of the day came via a Stefan Mols free-kick with 12 minutes remaining, forcing Jones into a remarkable save that clipped the ball round the post for a corner that the Nash couldn’t benefit from.
The last 10 minutes saw three chances for the hosts, one of which came from 22 yards out from Ramshaw in the 92nd minute, but none of the efforts could hit the target and Jones was left undisturbed.
The result means Curzon are now 6th in the National League North, though the table still reads very positively for Mahon and his side owing to the two games in hand they hold over four of the top five sides, with one game in hand against our last opponents, Kidderminster Harriers, and only five points off the top of the table.
The Nash will travel to Marine next time out in another league fixture and, with the opposition currently in the relegation zone on 13 points, the Curzon fans will be hoping for a positive result to maintain our impressive away form this season.
