Curzon Ashton 0-0 Cambridge United

Curzon Ashton 0-0 Cambridge United

FA Cup First Round

Sunday 6th November 2022

On a good weekend already for National League North teams in the FA Cup, 'plucky' Curzon Ashton will have to do it again with Cambridge United in a First Round replay following this stalemate at the Tameside Stadium.

After Kings Lynn Town humiliated Doncaster Rovers and Buxton eased their way past Step 7 outfit Merthyr Town on Saturday, Curzon were looking to become the third National League North club guaranteed to be in Round Two - a stage they last reached in the 2016/17 when they memorably squandered a three-goal lead in the last 10 minutes to lose to AFC Wimbledon.

Whilst that tie six years ago had drama, incident and lots of excitement, this was a much more tepid encounter as the hosts stifled their League One counterparts whose quality was shown only in small snippets over the course of the 90 minutes.

On a stereotypically 'wet' Greater Manchester day, and after a forgettable first 45 minutes which was punctuated by quite a few stoppages for injuries, the U's performed much better in the second period and forced a few saves but Mark Bonner's team never properly had the non-leaguers 'on the ropes' or hanging on for dear life or anything - and ultimately they couldn't do what was required to make a breakthrough!

Curzon 'keeper Chris Renshaw's best save came when he kept out Lewis Simper's low drive from eight yards with his trailing leg and, with Cambridge building up a head of steam at that point, Harvey Knibba also sent a header narrowly over soon afterwards following a good burst into the box and hooked up cross from substitute Shilow Tracey.

But the U's needed to do a lot more in reality - and Curzon even mustered up a few openings of their own as they tried to cause an upset with Connor Hampson forcing a near-post save early in the game (after Cambridge couldn't effectively clear their lines from a deliberate tactic at Curzon corners where everyone was packed into the six-yard box), Connor Dimaio also sending a volley narrowly over the upright in first half stoppage-time, before the biggest chance of them all right at the end of the game when Jordan Richards' horrible inswinging free-kick bounced up inside the box and had to be clawed away by visiting 'keeper Will Mannion.

Ultimately, there were no goals and a replay at the Abbey Stadium will now have to take place.

Considering the current cost of living crisis (which won't end anytime soon) and the expense that will have to go into the replay - such as travel arrangements, a pre-match meal plus the cost of floodlights, in addition to Curzon's part-time players having to use up holidays or call in a few favours just to get time off from their day jobs, it's easy to question the purpose of why replays still need to take place. 

Traditionalists with one foot in the past might like them, but they've been scrapped in Scotland altogether this season, they were canned in the FA Cup from Round Three onwards last term, and surely there's more excitement to be had by just playing this initial game to a conclusion?

An extra 30 minutes makes more sense than the rigmarole of a replay.