Curzon put the curse on Avenue
7:33pm Sunday 6th April 2008
Curzon Ashton 2, Bradford Park Avenue 0
The curse of the club of the month struck again as Bradford Park Avenue's 100 per cent start under Dave Cameron came to a shuddering halt at title rivals Curzon Ashton.
Avenue must have been hoping they had avoided the curse when last Tuesday's fixture at Newcastle Blue Star was postponed - their first since the award had been announced.
Saturday's defeat owed much to Bradford losing their skipper and midfield engine Steve Connors with an early injury.
They probably need a miracle for him to recover in time to be involved against FC United of Manchester at Horsfall Stadium tomorrow night. He left Ashton on crutches with suspected knee ligament damage.
It was difficult to tell after just five minutes but Bradford had looked comfortable and superior when Connors went down holding his knee. He tried to soldier on but had to be substituted in the ninth minute.
Curzon are a big, strong side and they impose themselves on games. With the industrious and combative Connors missing, it was easier for them to do that and they slowly got a firm grip.
They eventually broke the deadlock just minutes before the interval.
Curzon were awarded a free-kick and Edward Stanford lined it up. His left-foot drive dipped over the wall and went in off the inside of the post.
It was the first real strike of quality on Avenue goalkeeper Jon Worsnop's goal and he was frustrated not to have kept it out, having got a hand to the ball.
Just after the hour, Worsnop was the centre of attention once more.
He and centre back Mark Hotte both challenged for the ball in the area with a home forward and the referee's assistant saw something in it.
The referee conferred with him and then pointed to the spot, Michael Norton drilling in the penalty to double his side's lead.
Avenue refused to take defeat lying down and forced some good chances. Substitute Mark Bett shot wide minutes after coming on and was possibly guilty of going for glory rather than feeding either Tris Whitman or Mike Moseley.
Then Moseley got a later header to a Chris Williams cross but glanced it wide of the far post and had another effort following a Gareth Morris corner but that was cleared off the line.
Three minutes from time Avenue had a strong penalty claim when Bett rounded a defender but was floored as the player tried to regain possession from behind but the referee ruled that he had played the ball first.
Avenue now trail leaders Curzon by four points but they have two games in hand.
FC United's defeat to Wakefield on Saturday leaves them off the pace in fifth place.