Match Report

Darwen hosted Ashton Athletic on Wednesday night where they dominated in a 4-1 win, with goals from Pawel Zuk, Christopher Bailey and a double from top goal scorer Connor Hughes.

The Salmoners were looking to close the gap to play-off rivals Euxton Villa to four points heading into the final two games of the NWCFL Division One North season.

Manager Leighton Mills insisted in his pre-match interview (found on X: @LDownesSport) that his side have “got to take care of ourselves” and “keep applying the pressure” without focusing on other results.

Despite the home side controlling the game from the off, it was Ashton Athletic that opened the scoring 10 minutes in, with Emmanuel Ujahchuku lifting the ball over Louis Hood in a scrappy set-piece goal.

Captain Christopher Bailey was given a sinbin directly after the opener, for dissent surrounding an alleged foul on him in the build-up, a decision that seemed to kick the hosts into an even higher gear.

Unphased by going behind or by temporarily dropping to 10 men, Darwen had two chances from set pieces of their own three minutes later.

Jack Foster’s effort from Charlie Lloyd’s header was turned away on the line, before Connor Hughes’ resulting corner landed at the feet of Pawel Zuk at the back post, whose effort was deflected into the roof of the net, the Pole opening his account in just his third game at the club.

Ashton nearly had the lead against the run of play again five minutes on, Jack Smith failing to convert a one-on-one under minimal pressure.

The visitors were producing the better chances in the opening half hour, despite seeing little of the possession.

Our March player of the month Mohamed Wassa and Bruno Severino combined time and again to dance through the Ashton midfield who were consistently a step behind the midfield pair, but Darwen’s next definite chance at goal didn’t come until the 32-minute mark.

Christopher Bailey made sure to make up for his early sinbin, wrestling past his man to convert into the bottom left corner from another Connor Hughes delivery, earning his side the lead with his third goal in four games.

Louis Hood was forced into a save to keep his side ahead minutes later, stopping Nathan Beca’s volley and dropping on the rebound.

Darwen finished the half as strongly as they started, Hughes making it 3-1 with a tidy one-on-one finish into the bottom right corner, latching onto a through-ball by Joshua Abbott to double their advantage before the half-time whistle.

The visitors were forced to re-emerge without manager Jay Foulds, after an incident before the break involving a number of players from both teams saw him dismissed, an event that only worsened Ashton’s position in the game.

The away side restarted clearly frustrated by the half-time controversy, committing a number of fouls in the opening five minutes of the second half, before Darwen buried any hope of a comeback.

Wassa starred in the build-up to Darwen’s fourth, similar to his role in the opener against Ashton Town, picking a pinpoint pass from deep to find Hughes in behind who made no mistake, rolling the ball into the bottom right corner once again.

The hosts saw out the rest of the game with ease, the style of controlled play unchanged between the scorelines of 0-1 and 4-1.

Substitutes Akim Samms and Jefferson De Abreu did well to hold up the ball when it did go long, maintaining possession for their side when short passing options did eventually run out.

Hood saw his feet more involved than his hands in the second half as his team passed it through Ashton’s lines, however, the half wasn’t all good news.

Both Bailey and Bradley Sixsmith hobbled off the pitch in quick succession, adding to Darwen’s injury worries going into the season end.

Nathan Bond joined Samms in returning from injury to replace the captain, slotting back into centre-half with 20 minutes to go.

Samms, Jamie Ramwell and Kit Lloyd were all involved in chances to extend The Salmoners’ lead late on, but the misses saw the final score to a comfortable 4-1 win at home.

Another three points saw Darwen move to within four points of the play-offs with two games left to play, with the scoreline also closing the goal difference gap to just three, with Steeton away up next on Saturday April 5.