Following the Bulls excellent 2-1 win at Buxton at the weekend…or should that be 2-0 win… Paul Caddis next takes his side to Curzon Ashton for the National League North ‘Match of the Day’ this coming Saturday. Can Hereford maintain their unbeaten run away from home in what feels like a significant fixture, albeit only a quarter of the way through the season.
Ashton Under Lyne is a Tameside market town where famously there are three canals and two football clubs. The veteran outfit Ashton United and the Johnny Come lately’s Curzon Ashton, who are several years younger than me. The Nash are familiar and doughty opponents with no clear trend from previous encounters. In the ten previous matches, Hereford have won three and drawn two.
The 11th meeting sees the League’s third best club on the road visit the side with the 13th best home record. Yep, like ourselves Curzon are not strong at home. Their points gathering is barely better than ours at the Street. It’s probably down to their hordes of demanding supporters. When your average gate is 480, you can probably hear every one of them voicing their opinion. Last season, Curzon lost 9 home games and still made the play-offs. Food for thoughts for our club critics. Our hosts may be above us in the table but 3 points can change that.
Our opponents don’t score many goals but concede far fewer. Keeper Bobby Jones has five clean sheets in the league, and three more in the FA Cup too as they have reached Round One proper. You might remember a previous Curzon FA Cup match, a live fixture against Wimbledon. The Tameside club were 3-0 up and celebrating victory. Only for AFC Wimbledon to fight back with 4 goals of their own, including two from a certain Ty Barnett. The same striker also scored twice during our last victory at the Tameside Stadium, a 3-1 win and surely Ty’s moment in the Hereford sun.
Since beating Needham Market 3-0 on the opening day, Curzon’s results at home are 1-0, 0-0, 0-1 and 1-1 which probably means something in binary code. Expect another nose-to-nose encounter as the Bulls are no mugs at keeping out the opposition. Player manager Craig Mahon is an admirer of club continuity which no longer requires his midfield contribution. He’s named the same starting X1 in every League game this season, 8 of whom were also regulars during last season. Curzon are a very tight team – solid, organised and featuring a lot of big men too. They don’t score that often, with four players all having a couple each.
Their home stadium is impressive. Lots of free car parking and probably the best organised catering in the division. Tickets can be pre-ordered but really no need when only 10% of the capacity is used. Pricing is higher than normal Step 2 (pot and kettle) at £17 adults and £12 for concessions. Season ticket holders pay under £9 per game.
Can we maintain our unbeaten away record? Bulls fans really ought to be there to find out!
League table: Mens First Team vs. Hereford (h) : League table (curzon-ashton.co.uk)
If you are unable to make the trip listen to full match commentary via Radio Hereford FC.
Radio Hereford FC | Hereford FC – The Official website of Hereford FC
Simon Wright
