Saturday 3rd September 2011 - Curzon Ashton v Bamber Bridge
It's FA Cup time again. Curzon's hopes of emulating their cup run back in 2008 began with a preliminary round match against Bamber Bridge.The game began well with both Curzon and Bamber Bridge putting in an equally good effort and offering an entertaining start to the game for those of us who had bothered to turn up on 'Non-League Day'.
But then around 20 minutes in, Curzon's Chris McDonagh went in with a two footed tackle which ironically left him injured on the ground. When he eventually staggered to his feet, he was shown the red card and had to be helped off the pitch by the physio. So Curzon were down to ten men and there was still another 70 minutes to play. Daunting. But they played on and despite several chances from both sides, the players went for their orange segments at half time with the scoreline still at 0 - 0.
But then around 20 minutes in, Curzon's Chris McDonagh went in with a two footed tackle which ironically left him injured on the ground. When he eventually staggered to his feet, he was shown the red card and had to be helped off the pitch by the physio. So Curzon were down to ten men and there was still another 70 minutes to play. Daunting. But they played on and despite several chances from both sides, the players went for their orange segments at half time with the scoreline still at 0 - 0.
With no oranges available for spectators, I went for a little stroll around the perimeter of the pitch, I spied Rhodri Giggs with his sweatshirt hood up over his head away from the other spectators, trying to look inconspicuous. As it happens, he just looked dodgy. He was either there to get a glimpse of the new look Curzon team, or he was hiding from the press given his recent shenaningans.
The floodlights had come on during at half time providing a depressing glimpse of the matches to come as we march towards winter. This doesn't make me smile. Then as the players came out for the second half, the rain started, and worse than that, it was that fine rain that gets you wet. While it lasted, this provided an amusingly slippery surface, with players providing us with slapstick head over heels falls all over the place. Oh, how I laughed.
A few times during the game, the ref had managed to miss seeing the liners flagging for incidents on the pitch, and on a couple of occasions, the crowd had to point out that the liner had his flag up. At one point, one of the liners was repeatedly shouting the ref’s name to get his attention, and didn’t stop until he eventually heard him and blew his whistle. Very reminiscent of the Alan Partridge sketch.
Bamber Bridge eventually broke the deadlock and scored. However, the depleted Curzon side didn’t give up, and five minutes later, came back with an equalizer from Kris Dennis who just can’t stop scoring!
At the end of a great game, the teams had to be content with a tie and a replay to take place at Bamber Bridge. This time, both teams will have eleven men each. Game on.
Final Score - Curzon Ashton 1 Bamber Bridge 1
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