Curzon Ashton 3

Kendal Town 0

Doodson Sport Cup Third Round

KENDAL Town’s involvement in cup competitions ended as a Black and Whites second string side were beaten in Lancashire.

Manager Steve Edmondson made 11 changes to the starting line-up, giving a chance to the fringe players at the club while also resting some of his bigger names ahead of the re-arranged Evo-Stik Premier Division trip to Ashton United on Wednesday night.

Curzon Ashton also rested players and with a crowd of just 85 people at the ground, it was clear that neither side was particularly concerned about progress into the next round of the cup.

But the Tameside Stadium outfit kept their best midfielder Sam Walker in the side, and the skipper got the first goal of the night on 20 minutes.

Kendal centre back Liam Shields made a terrible mistake when he took too much time on the ball in his own box as Walker dispossessed him towards the goal-line on the left hand side of the box. He cut in and curled a right-footed shot beyond goalkeeper Damian Clifton from point-blank range to give his side an early lead.

Before then Tom Williams had a half-chance for Kendal when he struck the ball over the bar after some good interplay between him and Jonathan McDonald, who had a decent game on the right wing.

The Evo-Stik First Division North team nearly scored a scrappy second from a corner which Kendal barely managed to clear.

But from the next set piece Curzon made it 2-0 when Taylor scored straight from a corner in the 29th minute as the ball evaded everybody in the box to double the home side’s lead.

Ben Fishwick had a shot blocked from the edge of the area three minutes before half time but that was all Kendal offered despite some good hold-up play up front by striker Phil Eastwood, who was not given the support his play deserved.

Lee Blackshaw began the second half where the first ended for Curzon when he went close in the first minute of play, but his effort was just clipped wide by Clifton.

Matthew Kay was denied a glorious chance thanks to a wonderful save from Clifton in the 52nd minute despite having the goal gaping for him, and that resulted in three consecutive corners as Kendal looked to weather the storm.

But they failed in that endeavour when Clifton pulled off another save from Kay in the 58th minute. However, the ball fell to the unmarked Chris McDonagh, who smashed the ball beyond Clifton and Kendal defenders on the line to make it 3-0.

Edmondson introduced Maison McGeechan to proceedings after the third goal and that seemed to spring Kendal into life, with the Black and Whites hitting the post after a lovely effort just seconds after the third goal.

Zach Clark came on five minutes later to liven the away side up even more, with his fantastic workrate hassling defenders into making mistakes and personifying the phrase ‘defending from the front’.

Aaron Helliwell went for a world-class acrobatic attempt on the edge of the box, which was blocked just minutes after Clark came on, while McGeechan struck a free kick over the bar with 11 minutes remaining.

Kendal finished the game strongly and afforded Curzon no further chances, but the damage had already been done and the home side will now face a trip to Nantwich Town in the fourth round of the Doodson Sport Cup next week.

Curzon Ashton

Joshua Ollerenshaw, George Bowyer, Connor Hampson, Jonathan Hunt, Simon Lakeland, Ryan Watson, Matthew Kay, Sam Walker (c) (Saul Henderson 69), Chris McDonagh (Jordan Wright 78), Matthew Purcell.

Subs not used: Kristian Dennis, Scott Metcalfe.

Bookings: None

Kendal Town

Damian Clifton, Rylen Knowles, Jamie Hastings, Corry Vickers, Liam Shields, Dan Ferguson (c), Jonathan McDonald, Ben Fishwick, Tom Williams, Phil Eastwood, Aaron Helliwell.

Subs: Danny McGahon for Fishwick (45), Maison McGeechan for Knowles (59), Zach Clark for Williams 64).

Subs not used: Adam Freeland, Jack Cook.

Bookings: None

Key man: Phil Eastwood – Held the ball up well for Kendal and provided an avenue for Kendal’s wingers and midfield to get the ball forward; he proved a nuisance to Curzon Ashton’s defence

Attendance: 85