THREE years ago, Curzon Ashton gave us a lesson in football. They ruthlessly exposed our frailties, made us feel pretty inadequate and, fortunately, provided Martin Gray with the focus to make the improvements required the following season to get where he wanted. Last Saturday could have a similar effect as the Tameside outfit belittled us once again.

Having let the result sink in and watched the highlights a couple of times, it is still proving difficult to see any positives from the performance. Like three years ago, at times, Curzon made us look distinctly Sunday morning in comparison. On a pitch that has already been highlighted as a problem, our visitors played the ball around neatly and, importantly, quickly. They had players who were willing to carry the ball over long distances with pace. They had everything we didn’t.

While having players who can actually execute a game plan is quite handy, what became apparent was Curzon had done their homework. All the teams do in this division. They knew we would over-commit when attacking. They knew we chuck in everything including the kitchen sink when we have attacking set pieces. More importantly, they knew that once our centre halves go up for said set pieces, they rarely seem to be in a rush to get back. Is that harsh? Could they get back any quicker? Should they both be going forward if they can’t get back quickly?

Curzon executed their game plan beautifully. Sharp thinking from the goalkeeper, quick, incisive passing working the ball in to the space where their quick players could get at our plodders and composed finishing when the chances came their way. Curzon deserve a huge amount of praise for their performance. However, the disappointing thing for me is that as good as their performance was, like many other games in recent months, it felt like we were complicit. We’re not making it hard for teams to score. There appears to be a textbook approach to scoring goals against us and yet Martin Gray, the coaches and the players seem to be powerless to deal with it.

After midweek results, we’ve dropped out of the playoffs and if I’m honest, I’m actually glad. While I expected a playoff challenge at the start of the season (as did Martin Gray), this team just isn’t at that level. Unless there is a miraculous turn of form, the only way this team would make the playoffs this season would be spending money that we can ill afford to at this time. With a mid-table finish looking more and more likely, our last 15 games should be seen as an audition for all to see who should remain and who should be moved on in the summer. I fancy there’ll be around half a dozen sitting uncomfortably at the moment.

Auditions begin on Saturday with our trip to Chorley. They’ve been flying all season and, crucially, are strong defensively. One of the best sides we’ve seen this season, it seems crazy that we actually kept a clean sheet against them although it wasn’t for a lack of chances; profligate finishing cost them.

This is where I contradict everything above. I actually think we could do a smash and grab this Saturday and possibly even keep a clean sheet. Chorley aren’t a free-scoring side. If we can (somehow) keep it tight at the back, don’t over commit and take the counter-attack option out of the game, we could sneak something. It would take a disciplined performance that hasn’t been seen in many months but we’ve got to start somewhere.