Curzon cruise into cup final

Curzon Ashton cruised into the final of the Manchester Premier Cup on Tuesday night, seeing off local rivals Mossley 3-0 at the Tameside Stadium. 

A Tony Weston hat-trick saw The Nash reach the final of the competition for the first time since the 2018/19 campaign. 

The winger was slipped in down the right by Timi Sobowale before arrowing into the far corner to open the scoring on 15 minutes. 

This lead was doubled on the stroke of half time when the pair combined once more, with Sobowale smashing the ball across for Weston to tap home his second at the back post. 

The Lilywhites came agonisingly close to halving the deficit on the hour, when Mason Fawns unleashed a ferocious drive from distance, but saw his effort cannon back out off the upright. 

Mark Bradshaw’s side then put the win beyond any doubt 15 minutes from time when former Mossley man Ben Darby laid off for Weston who smashed home to complete his second hat-trick in seven days. 

“It’s took us a couple of seasons to get through to the final, so we’re pleased to get through,” Nash assistant head-coach Jack Salkeld told the Reporter following the win.   

“It was a tough game to be fair, so credit to Mossley, the caused us a few problems. 

“But I think the quality showed up top, and that’s no disrespect to Mossley, Tony just knew where the net was tonight. 

“Hopefully we can go on and win it now.” 

Despite the defeat, Mossley boss Alex Craddock was proud of his side’s performance. 

“I think we showed a huge amount of character tonight,” the Yorkshireman told the Reporter. 

“We’ve played against a couple of National League North sides during my time here and we’ve been bopped off the park, but I don’t think that was the case tonight. 

“There’s a lot of positives to take from it, but ultimately, it’s disappointing because we’ve been knocked out.”  

The other semi-final sees Ashton United take on the winner of Droylsden v West Didsbury & Chorlton.