Curzon advanced in the FA Trophy, edging Celtic in every area of the pitch.

For forty minutes, the home side were on top, with Charlie Monks twice keeping Celtic in the tie in the opening quarter of an hour. Timi Sobowale’s low driven shot from outside the box required a smart stop from Monks, but the effort ten minutes later from Alex Curran required an even better one. Eventually, Curzon’s pressure told, but it flat-footed defending opened the door. Monks pushed away Curran’s low cross from danger, but his defenders reacted slower than Ola Lawal, who buried his effort. One error, one goal. Celtic clawed their way back into the match and began to get on top, worrying their hosts. Aidan Dowling needed to be on top form to deny a rocket from Lewis Rawsthorn, pushing the ball away. Kyle Brownhill put the instant cross back in, Sobowale somehow deflecting the ball away from Jack Irlam’s head. Irlam tried again moments later, firing over, before Rawsthorn held off pressure to put a low cross into a crowded box. It squirmed through to Ellis Horan, and he slid the ball over the line.

The second half lacked chances for either side, but Curzon took advantage of two errors, possibly caused by losing both Mike Koral and Josh Granite to injury. Jack Irlam had a go, but Dowling collected without breaking a sweat. A dangerous ball into the box from Jack Stobbs caused issues, Celtic unable to clear the ball despite two attempts, and Curran found Brad Holmes to put the decisive touch on the ball and restore Curzon’s lead. Kyle Brownhill came within a millimetre of equalising a second time, arriving at the back post for Ellis Horan’s cross; his volley hit the underside of the bar and rebounded away for the Curzon defence to clear. With a few minutes left on the clock, a simple ball into the box headed out by Charlie Doyle. Straight to Curran, who squared to Holmes to rifle into an empty net.

Back to league action on Tuesday with a trip to Northwich.