Match report from a depressing afternoon at Southport FC. Southport 0 Curzon Ashton 3

Southport had the first chance of the game as Brad Holmes fired a low ball into Luke Burgess near the penalty spot, the midfielder struggled to get the ball out from under his feet and curled his shot over the bar.

Just a minute afterwards, Curzon would make the breakthrough after a defensive mix-up for the hosts. Harry Flowers attempted to chest a long ball down into the path of Will Squires, but a miscommunication meant that neither defender claimed the loose ball, allowing Stefan Mols to steal in, squaring the ball to the unmarked James Spencer who finished his one-on-one effort with ease.

Southport had a chance to respond almost instantly as a David Morgan corner found Tyler Walton entirely unmarked but Walton was unable to get over it and headed high over the bar.

Stefan Mols would go from provider to goalscorer himself just before the half-hour mark as another defensive error cost the hosts dearly. Nobody claimed a deep cross into the box allowing James Spencer to knock back across the face of the goal, Mols pounced to nod in from 2 yards.

Despite trailing at the break, Southport never looked threatening in the second half. Mahon flashed a long-range effort wide before Storey dispossessed Jack Bainbridge inside the Southport box and fired into the side netting, the Nash looking more likely to get the next goal, so it would come to pass.

Shortly after Bainbridge had headed a corner narrowly wide in the Sandgrounders best chance of the second half, Miles Storey flew down the right wing before cutting it back to Spencer who had timed his run to perfection, tapping into the empty net and confirming a result that had been certain for a long time on an afternoon that saw the Sandgrounders well off the pace.

Line Up: Renshaw, Thomson, Bainbridge, Flowers, Squires (Doyle), Morgan, Walton, Philliskirk, Bennett, Burgess(Carver), Holmes

Attendance: 1,165 (46 away)

Report By James Houghton

Southport 0

Curzon Ashton 3

Spencer (6’, 83’)

Mols (28’)