Back-to-back wins on the road - Curzon analysis & player ratings
Macc cruise to 2-0 win & remain 5th in the table
From the despair of Chorley, to back-to-back wins on the road at Marine and Curzon Ashton. The Silkmen have responded magnificently to cement their place in the play-offs in fifth place on a day when many of our top seven rivals dropped points.
Here’s a review of the main talking points from Curzon yesterday to include various stats and player ratings.
Cruise control at Curzon
Goals in each half from the scintillating James Edmondson and Luke Duffy saw the Silkmen cruise to victory at the Nash, registering their first away clean sheet since beating Leamington 1-0 in October. Macc started brightly with James Gale and Paul Dawson going close, but then fell a bit flat.
The game was delayed for fifteen minutes whilst a Silkmen supporter received treatment following a medical episode. Thankfully the gentleman is ok. Ironically, the break in play seemed to galvanise Macclesfield and we resumed on the front foot. Birthday-boy Isaac Buckley-Ricketts’ backpost cross was converted at close range by the onrushing Edmondson to make it 1-0 on 37 minutes.
Curzon rarely threatened, with the exception of a free-kick from former Silkman Alex Curran which Rogan Ravenhill got the faintest of touches on to turn it over the bar. Macc began the second half in the ascendency. Luke Duffy narrowly failed to turn in Gale’s cross, but then Duffy atoned by drilling in an effort from just inside the area to double our advantage. 0-2.
It might have been three had Edmondson’s stinging effort not struck the woodwork, and the Silkmen also had a penalty shout turned down for handball. Overall, a professional and comfortable performance from Macclesfield who are now looking up the table to see if they can catch fourth-placed Kidderminster (who drew against Chester) and wobbling Merthyr (who lost to Spennymoor).
If we can emerge with a draw or a victory in Tuesday’s tricky test away at play-off rivals Telford, the Silkmen will really be in the box-seat.
Match stats
Possession: Curzon 43%, Macc 57%
Total shots: Curzon 8, Macc 20
Shots on target: Curzon 4, Macc 4
Shots off target: Curzon 4, Macc 16
Corners: Curzon 2, Macc 6
Player ratings
Ravenhill 7.5 – a much more assured performance from Rogan who kept his second clean sheet in seven appearances. Nothing spectacular, but thankfully, no hearts in mouths moments either. Four saves in total (two inside the box) – the pick being a sprawling dive to keep out Weston’s well drilled effort mid-way through the second half. Rogan’s passing accuracy is also improving – 88% against Marine and 78% yesterday, compared to just 46% at Darlington.
Matheson 7 – made his seventh consecutive start and has been really consistent since returning from injury in mid-December after being sidelined for almost four months. Defensively he surprisingly won only 1 of his 7 duels, although it’s hard to recall Matheson being unduly troubled. As always, he got forward in an attempt to support our attacks – 13 of his 20 passes were in Curzon’s half with an accuracy rate of 85%.
Heathcote 8 – really good, particularly in the second half when Sam made a crucial block at point-blank range to prevent substitute Stubbs from pulling a goal back. Strong, commanding and unruffled throughout – 6 defensive contributions (3 interceptions, 2 clearances and 1 blocked shot) underline Heathcote’s solid contribution yesterday. I felt Sam needed a rest physically and mentally after Brentford, and since returning to the side at Scarborough he’s been in fine form. Curzon attempted 5 through balls compared to none from Macclesfield – they tried to play through us centrally but invariably Heathcote and Borthwick-Jackson closed the door.
Borthwick-Jackson 8.5 – proper Rolls-Royce performance by CBJ yesterday who is flourishing at centre back alongside Heathcote. He makes the game look really easy at this level, with and without the ball. With it, his passing accuracy was 89% overall including 15 out of 18 successful passes in Curzon’s half which is impressive. The highlights will show Buckley-Ricketts’ assist for Edmondson’s opener, however they may not show CBJ’s intelligent run into the penalty area in the build-up to create space and occupy Curzon’s defenders. He then laid the ball back and Isaac and Edo did the rest.
Defensively, Cameron was exceptional. He won 7 of 12 ground and aerial duels, and is becoming more dominant in the air following two strong performances against Marine and Curzon – 4 of 6 aerial duels won yesterday and 5 out of 6 aerial duels won against the physical threat of Marine on Tuesday. At Curzon, CBJ made 4 defensive contributions (1 crunching tackle, 1 interception, 1 interception and 1 blocked shot).
He also reads the game so well and is in the right place at the right time – Borthwick-Jackson made a whopping 16 ‘recoveries’, a term used to describe a player retrieving possession as the result of winning a second ball, such as collecting / intercepting a misplaced pass. He’s so important to allowing us to play on the front foot.
Pasiek 6.5 – didn’t carry the ball as much as he did at Marine on Tuesday, but then again he didn’t need to as Buckley-Ricketts was giving Curzon fits further forward. Kacper’s job was to keep it tight up against the dangerous Curzon forward Weston who has bagged 13 goals for the Nash this season. Kacper was largely second best against his dangerous opponent – just 3 of 12 ground duels won, however this rarely presented Curzon with any clearcut openings.
Osborne 7.5 – like Borthwick-Jackson, ‘Ozzy’ is a bit like a fine wine at this level. He strolls, rather than struts across the turf, and is a quietly effective screener in front of the back four. 78% overall passing accuracy with 13 of 15 completed passes in our own half – Osborne rarely gives the ball away. And his defensive diligence has been crucial in allowing the likes of Dawson, Kay and Edmondson to get forward more often and express themselves in an attacking sense. See below for more context on this.
Dawson 7.5 – great to have the skipper back following his two-game suspension. He went close with an effort from a corner early on which sailed narrowly wide and also had a long-range effort which failed to trouble the keeper in the first half. Generally, Dawson bossed the midfield and took the game to Curzon – 3 out of 3 successful dribbles, 2 shots, 2 interceptions and 69 touches of the ball – the highest of any Silkmen player.
Edmondson 8.5 – I think Edmondson has really stepped up a gear over the last month. He’s becoming more dominant, more dynamic and more of a threat in the final third. He was outstanding yesterday – 5 shots in total, which included scoring our opening goal and hitting the post late on. 82% passing accuracy, including 15 out of 19 completed passes in Curzon’s half.
James can also put his foot in when needed – 2 defensive contributions (both interceptions), and he won 7 out of 10 ground and aerial duels. A really complete midfield performance from the 20 year-old who is showing his best form at a crucial time in the season.
Duffy 8 – excellent energy, persistence and dangerous throughout. Duffy really grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck after the interval – 4 efforts on goal in 6 minutes, his final one seeing him make it 2-0 with a strong, accurate drive into the net. Duffs has been a revelation so far in 2026 and is so much more effective playing further forward in a 4-3-3 formation.
As well as his goal yesterday he made 3 ‘key passes’, which are passes which directly lead to a teammate having an attempt on goal. Give Duffy the ball and he’s more likely than not to create something.
Buckley-Ricketts 7.5 – the birthday boy (now 28) built on his impressive performance against Marine with an effective pain-in-the-a**e type showing against his former club. Isaac was in the mood yesterday and was a constant menace against Curzon giving full-back Richards a torrid afternoon. IBR had 5 out of 8 successful dribbles, two shots including a curler which went narrowly wide, and made 1 key pass. He was always looking to get to the byline, and whilst not everything came off, IBR was always dangerous.
Gale 7.5 – the big man has done brilliantly since arriving from Altrincham (7 goals in 11), but he’s left his shooting boots at home over the last week. After missing good chances against Chorley and Marine (I know he scored at the end), he also missed another very presentable opportunity early on against Curzon. It was similar to some of his other recent misses, in that he did brilliantly to work the opening but then screwed his shot wide.
I don’t want to be too critical of James though as notably he is working so much harder for the team since Mellor’s departure. 50 touches yesterday, including 5 out of 6 successful dribbles – for a gentle giant he’s quite nimble on his feet! He also made 2 key passes, including laying on an excellent cross for Duffy at the start of the second half which was begging to be converted.
My worry about James is that we’re relying too heavily on him as our sole striker. He’s taken excellent responsibility and has shown there’s much more to his game than just goals. However, Rooney and co need to look after him otherwise he’s going to burn out.