Adam Yates reports from a chilly Marine Travel Arena as Neil Young’s men were on the losing end of a 2-0 scoreline at the hands of a well drilled Curzon Ashton team. The loss leaves the Mariners in a precarious position in the table but sent the ‘Nash’ up to third place in the National League North.
Fans were unsure what to expect going into the game with a rotten time at Hereford still in their short term memory but the 3-0 home win over Chorley last week was a reason to be hopeful.
The atmosphere around the ground was notably tense as the teams came out – Marine had two games in hand prior to kick off but not a divine right to win them given recent results. Neil Young was forced into one change – Tom Atcheson being on international duty so Charley Doyle was brought into the starting line up for the first time this season.
The first half was the cliched cagey affair but Curzon had the better of the chances. Marine enjoyed early set pieces by way of corners but in what was to be a familiar scene throughout the night, crossed balls and smart long aerial passes were not met effectively in front of goal. William Hayhurst for Ashton was their most dangerous player in the opening 45 with some neat passes inwards but Matty Corran was efficient in the tame shots that followed. Kristi Montgomery in particular was a steady anchor in the Marine midfield and a standout with the ability to take stock of his time on the ball, judge the space and make forward passes.
As the referee blew for half time, both teams were at a stalemate and if things had stayed that way, it would have been a fair result but the second half was pivotal to the final scoreline.
Early in the second half, Michael Afuye was brought down in the penalty area and a spot kick was given to the visitors with few complaints from the Mariners. Stefan Mols took his run up perfectly and calmly slotted to the opposite of Corran’s dive to put Curzon ahead. The goal deflated the hopes of the 1000+ crowd and Neil Young made a triple substitution to try to change the tempo of the game. It partially did the job with a lot more Marine opportunities being flown into the box facing the RW Invest stand but as with prior games, there was little by way of targeted chances and former Mariner Bobby Jones was not given any challenges to his ever increasing amount of clean sheets so far this season.
Captain Chris Doyle, making his 99th appearance for Marine was repositioned as a target man for knock downs in a role that he has done before in the absence of Bobby Grant. Route one was becoming more vital for an equaliser.
With ten minutes to go, Curzon substitute, David Worrall found himself with the ball on the edge of the box and lobbed Matty Corran, who was off his line and scored Ashton’s second in front of their away supporting contingent.
Even with seven added minutes injury time and some enticing crosses into the box, it seemed like things were not going to click for the Marine front line tonight and the team must regroup for Saturday where they have a break from the league and face Chorley once more, this time away in the FA Trophy.
Attendance 1016
Marine: 1 Matthew Corran, 5 Chris Doyle (C), 24 Bradley Grant (Finlay Sinclair-Smith 56′),8 Harvey Gregson (Leigh Whelan 65′),10 Owen Robinson (Matty Waters 80′), 22 Joe Mattock, 15 Enock Lusiama (Bradley Holmes 58′), 16 Kristi Montgomery, 6 James Butler, 25 Charley Doyle (Adam Thomas 55′), 23 James Brown
Subs: 4 Leigh Whelan, 3 Matty Waters, 14 Bradley Holmes, 7 Adam Thomas, 20 Finlay Sinclair-Smith
