Moors put Curzon Ashton to the sword on Tuesday night as they ran out 4-1 winners in a dominant display at The Brewery Field.
Corey McKeown opened the scoring with a tidy finish on the 25th minute, before Alex Curran levelled for the visitors less than 60 seconds later.
An own goal put Moors back in front on the half hour mark, before a second from McKeown and a well-placed header from Glen Taylor after the break rounded off the three points in impressive fashion.
Moors started well and almost found themselves ahead in the opening three minutes. Rob Ramshaw lofted a quick throw-in over the head of a Curzon man and into the path of Salkeld in the area, who volleyed an effort towards the bottom left corner, only to see it drop wide.
Tony Weston looked to trouble Brad James in the 13th minute, but saw the Moors shot stopper get down well to his left to claim the low driven effort.
A few half chances came and went for Moors around the quarter hour mark, first through Dan Jones who headed over the bar from close range, before Mackenzie Heaney’s low strike failed to hit the target.
Heaney was involved again soon after, when he received the ball from a short corner, before looping a cross into the penalty area. The ball found the head of Taylor, who couldn’t keep his effort down, as it soared over the bar.
Moors finally broke the deadlock with 24 minutes on the clock, as McKeown grabbed his first goal of the season. An inviting ball into the far post from Cam Salkeld found the run of McKeown, who tapped home from close range.
The lead didn’t last long however, as the visitors equalised within a minute of the restart. A ball over the top was flicked on by James Spencer, who found Curran on the edge of the area. The number 8 controlled the ball and fired a strike into the bottom corner, wrong-footing Brad Jame to bring his side level.
In similar fashion, it wasn’t long before Moors pulled themselves ahead again just four minutes later. Great work from McKeown forced Josh Ollerenshaw into a good save to his left, only for the ball to ricochet into the leg of Chris Stokes and into the back of the Curzon net.
It could’ve been three just after the half hour mark when Olly Dyson broke through the visitor’s midfield and burst into the penalty area. He unselfishly laid the ball off to Glen Taylor on his right, who struck an effort just inches wide of the mark.
McKeown looked to have added to his tally with 10 minutes of the first half remaining when he tucked home from close range, only to see the offside flag go up.
Moors had chances to inflict further punishment before the break, but neither Mondal nor Ramshaw could navigate their efforts into the back of the net.
Tommy Miller and Matty Dolan’s men came out for the second half with real intent, and it paid off just five minutes in.
A brilliant sequence of play between McKeown and Taylor saw them produce a one-two around a defender, as Taylor snuck a ball back into the path of McKeown, who took a touch before prodding home at the goalkeeper’s near post to give Moors a two-goal cushion.
Moors continued to look for more goals, testing Ollerenshaw in The Nash net, but the number one was equal to both Tayor’s header and Mondal’s awkwardly struck effort.
Taylor thought he’d got himself in on the act when he found the bottom left corner on the 71st minute, only to be denied by the linesman, whose flag had already been raised for offside.
However, it didn’t take long for the Moors skipper to press his name onto the scoresheet, as he headed home just four minutes later. A brilliant ball in from the left courtesy of Salkeld, found Taylor, who flicked his header downwards and in off the root of the far post, before wheeling off in celebration having added a fourth to Moors’ tally.
McKeown almost hit his third of the evening when Salkeld found him in space inside the penalty area. The ever-dangerous wide man curled an effort, looking for the bottom right corner, but saw the strike drop wide.
It could’ve been five as the game got closer to conclusion, this time through Dyson who found space to smash an effort from 30-yards, forcing Ollerenshaw into a tipped save over the crossbar.
Debutant Kian Foreman went agonisingly close to topping his performance off with a goal deep into injury time, when he struck an effort low towards the bottom right corner, but saw his attempt just about stopped by The Nash’s number one.
Full Time: Moors 4 Curzon Ashton 1
Moors: James, Jones, Dolan, Hill, Salkeld (Foreman 78), Heaney (Hancox 82), Dyson, McKeown, Mondal (Stephenson 73), Ramshaw (Williams 82), Taylor (Nouble 82).
Subs not used: Johnson, Beals.
Curzon Ashton: Ollerenshaw, Richards, Barton, Stokes, Flannery (Ezzenolim 75), Stobbs (Stritch 63), Curley (Sobowale 58), C Weston (Olufowobi 58), T Weston, Curran, Spencer (Sangare 81).
Sub not used: Hawkins.
Referee: Robert Claussen
Attendance: 1,011
Report by Noah Betts