Curzon Ashton 0 Mossley 1: THE Lilywhites took the honours in part one of this festive double-header with a goal just into the final third of this derby.

It came when a throw on the left-hand side ended with Chris Hirst driving the ball beyond the reach of David Carnell.

The game opened with Mossley keeper Andy Robertson having to deny Glyn Barker before using his feet to clear the ball with Alex Elliott bearing down on goal.

At the other end, the referee deemed Matthew Russell’s tackle on Hirst just outside the area to be illegal, Danny Self’s free kick forcing Carnell to dive low and collect the ball.

The best chance of the game so far came on 24 minutes when Mossley captain Graham Kay attempted to let the ball bounce through to his keeper.

Reading the situation well, Mike Norton went between the two to take control, but his shot from a difficult angle was taken by the recovering Robertson.

Three minutes later and it was a mistake by Chris Worsley that handed the initiative to Mossley midway inside his own half.

Self had a shot from distance that was close enough to the intended target to have Carnell scurrying to his right as the ball went just wide.

Ten minutes from the break and Norton’s hard work failed to pay dividends as he won possession on the right and then drove the ball into the six-yard area, only to find Barker beaten to the ball by Kay.

With Mossley already having displayed the festive spirit was alive and well in their own 18-yard area, it was in equal measure at the home end where David Birch looked to let the ball run through to Carnell, only for Danny Dignan to gain control 10 yards out.

With just the keeper to beat, he found Carnell had the measure of him as he got enough on the shot to turn it wide of goal.

Six minutes into the second period, Mossley came close to opening the scoring when a free kick just inside the Curzon half was driven forward and Kay’s header struck the crossbar before the ball was hastily cleared.

Following Hirst’s goal, it was almost level pegging on 71 minutes as Russell played Norton in on goal.

Robertson somehow got his fingertips to the first effort, and with the ball running loose, Norton, this time with more defenders around him, managed to get a second shot in on goal but saw the width of the post prevent the ball from entering the net.

Curzon’s final chance came when Barker was put through, but instead opted to play a diagonal ball towards Norton, only for Robertson to get the better of the Curzon striker and turn the ball over the top.

Attendance: 274