Page 19 - Women's Soccer Scene Issue No.35 2021-22

Winning run helps Curzon home

Curzon Ashton produced an excellent run of form which has resulted in them being crowned
Champions of Division One South in the North West Women’s League.
After picking up seven points from their opening four games, the Nashettes then
embarked on a run of twelve straight wins and remained unbeaten for the rest of the season,
to end up winning the league by a five point margin from their main rivals, Chester FC
Women.
Curzon Ashton are managed by Dean O’Brien and their captain, Amy Smith, was also
leading goalscorer, finding the net 22 times, one ahead of team maye Erin Longsden.
“New signing Lauren Beckford was awesome all season and added to our creativity in
midfield,” Dean O’Brien told Women’s Soccer Scene. “Our goal difference was due to a great
blend of scoring goals but just as important was the partnership of Steph Upsall and Liv
Chan at centre back becoming the meanest defensive pairing in the league.
“Off the field, we have to thank Lauren Hastie our physio, who worked on the girls who
picked up injuries early in the season and got them back in the squad earlier than expected,
which boosted us at vital times.
“The standout results and performances have to be the two games against Chester FC.
The opening game of the season and, two goals down with 20 minutes to play, we dug in and
managed to win 4-3 with the last kick of the game.
“Then the away trip on the last game before Christmas was always going to be tough and
some had already had it down as a title decider as Chester were sitting on top of the league.
The girls had a different vibe about them before the game they were so up for the battle. We
ended up dismantling Chester 6-1 who didn’t really seem to find their groove at all.
“The girls didn’t stop working all season and never took our league position for granted,
which kept our standards of performance as high as it it could be.”
Curzon Ashton squad: Megan Brett, Abigail Bleasdale, Olivia Chan, Stephanie Upsall,
Elisha James, Lucia Cicchirillo, Philippa Wakefield, Lauren Beckford, Tiffany Lunn,
Simone Drummond, Amy Smith, Grace Murphy, Jessica Cooke, Ingvild Tveit, Sophie
D’lorio, Leoni Harland, Molly Barton, Alicia Bocking, Aimee Collier, Mercedes Holmes,
Erin Longsden, Alexandra Moon, Summer-Mai Patterson, Paris Potts, Sophie Rowlands,
Megan Shandley, Megan Stapleton.

Issue no. 35 - 19 May 2022 news@womenssoccerscene.co.uk