Curzon Ashton discover next FA Cup opponents

Curzon Ashton’s reward for progressing to the FA Cup 3rd Qualifying Round is a trip to the seaside to face Hyde United’s conquerors Southport.

The Sandgrounders are five points and 12 places behind Curzon in the National League North, but according to Nash player-manager Craig Mahon, it’ll be a game between two sets of equals. 

“They’re going to be a tough opponent. They’re on a similar level to us, but it wouldn’t matter if they were from the league below, it won’t be easy.” 

“It should be a great day out for the club, and hopefully we can do what we’ve done over the past few weeks and put in a good performance.” 

The Nash have reached the First Round proper in the past two seasons, where they lost to League One’s Cambridge United on penalties in 2022, before going down 1-0 at home against Barnet last year. 

They reached the 3rd Qualifying Round this term by easing past North West Counties Premier Division side, Barnoldswick Town, a team from three divisions below. 

“We won 6-0, but we were only 2-0 up at half-time, so I had a bit of a go at them because it should’ve been four or five,” Mahon added. “We can’t let the standards drop. 

“It was a perfect scenario in the end, though, because we could give some of the fringe players a run-out and the ones who came on were unbelievable.” 

Other highlights of the draw, which was made at 1pm on Monday, include Radcliffe hosting their old tenants Bury; a Cheshire derby between Macclesfield and Witton Albion, while Chorley – who beat Mossley 3-0 in the last round – will travel to Spennymoor.