This week's game was brought to you by the letter F*

Saturday 13^th August 2011 – Curzon Ashton v Radcliffe Borough

And we’re off. The new season has finally arrived and a home game for the first match to boot. Curzon Ashton took on Radcliffe Borough with the knowledge that Radcliffe had not won their opening game for 15 years and haven't beaten Curzon at home since moving to the Tameside Stadium. All positive omens for Curzon.

The game had only just kicked off when just five minutes in, it had to be stopped. No fighting had broken out, no-one was injured, no-one was arguing. Somehow the liner had broken his flag. What he'd been doing with the flag, I don't know - waving it too vigorously perhaps? Anyway, everyone had to wait until a replacement could be found, and after five minutes, one was. Phew. On with the game.

Can you see what it is yet?

We had the referee assessor sat a couple of rows in front of us in the first half. Peeking over his shoulder, we tried to decipher his complicated chart and associated notes. None of which made any sense. My mind was well and truly boggled. Earlier, I'd seen a message on Twitter from the ref who said this was his first Evostik game. He obviously wanted to make a lasting impression in his first match as he booked around eight players (or more - I lost count). And they deserved them as this was a pretty rough game with plenty of pushing, tripping and pulling.

In the first half, it seemed as though Radcliffe were leading a charmed life until Dave Young finally found the net and scored. Huzzah! First goal to Curzon. As it turned out, it was the only goal. It was the classic game of two halves unfortunately and the first half domination by Curzon fell away in the second. But still, 3 points is 3 points.

It’s still feels slightly odd to sit behind the dugouts without the bellowing at the players from the management. Shouts of, “Well done son” from the coach still seem a little alien but is something we at Curzon are quite happy to get accustomed to.

In other news, this was the week John broke his diet and bought a pie. This he shall be reminded of all season. Don't forget to keep tuned for more pie news throughout the year.

Final Score – Curzon Ashton 1 Radcliffe Borough 0

*Foul

A taste of the exotic

Saturday 6^th August – Curzon Ashton FC v Barton Rovers FC

Gosh, a visit from a team that plays in the first division of the Zamaretto League, the equivalent of the Evo-Stik League. How very exotic! A bit of a change from the usual teams Curzon get to play in friendlies. The reason for the visit soon became clear.  Before the teams had even exited the tunnel the PA announcer had made several references to the Barton Rovers players going to the Printworks in Manchester City Centre after the match. Apparently, they were on a stag do in the evening and the offer of a match with a Northern team tied in nicely.

They probably wished they hadn’t bothered. It wasn’t a great day for Barton Rovers. The team coach had broken down so they all had to come up in cars from Luton. Not a great start. And then they were barely competition for Curzon as they failed to put up a fight. Well not in terms of skill anyway. They were pretty proficient in fouling however, and the ref had to use his yellow card liberally. Not what you expect in a friendly. I hope they were a little more affable when they hit the dancefloor later that evening.

And the lottery numbers this week are.....

At half time, the PA announcer took some time out from trying to pronounce the name of the sponsor to inform us it was Curzon’s physio’s birthday that day. On a gorgeous hot summer’s day, she had chosen to wear a woolly hat and a thick sweatshirt. Maybe they were presents that she felt obliged to wear.

It was a good game for Matty Purcell who got his first start in a first team match and looked good throughout the game. Steve Settle scored the final goal – he had tweeted that he was going to score so hopefully he’ll do more tweeting of predictions.

The highlight of the day had to be watching Ken Barlow’s actual dog exercising in the field opposite the ground having a run around. It just goes to show, you never know which celebrity you might see when you go to a match.

Final Score – Curzon Ashton 4 Barton Villa 0