Match Report

A late Nathan Bond winner saw Darwen through to the Third Round of the FA Vase on Saturday afternoon, with The Salmoners securing a 2-1 victory over Northern League side Thornaby.

After a fairly even first half, Darwen took the lead through Ryan Steele just before the interval.

The visitors equalised through Alex Hutchinson on the hour mark, but Kenny Langford’s men stayed resolute to ensure they didn’t fall behind.

In the 84th minute, Reds skipper Nathan Bond stepped up to score the winner and put Darwen into for the Third Round of the competition for the first time in the club’s history.

The first chance of the contest fell the way of the visitors, with Craig Hutchinson forcing Stefan Holden to tip over the bar.

Thornaby got off to a fast start, applying ample pressure on Holden’s goal in the opening minutes.
At the other end, Rio Wilson-Heyes registered Darwen’s first shot on target with a curled effort from the edge of the area.

The Blues looked sure to take the lead when Ryan McKenna played a loose pass right into the path of Connor Smith, but the striker saw his effort bounce wide of the right-hand post.

The game lost a lot of it’s early tempo as the half-hour mark approached.

At this point in the game, it seemed as though The Salmoners were happy to just sit off and look for an opening on the counter.

A Thornaby defender completely miscued a headed clearance and flicked the ball on to Steele, who was one-on-one with Quinaceo Hunt. Darwen’s number 9 really should have opened the scoring but his effort from inside the area was comfortably saved by the keeper.

A period of Darwen pressure came to an end with Thornaby keeper Hunt receiving some treatment after coming to claim a high cross.

In the last few seconds of injury time at the end of the first half, Steele put The Reds ahead of a really cute finish into the bottom left corner from a tight angle.

HALF TIME: DARWEN 1-0 THORNABY

Wilson-Heyes whipped in a threatening cross from a free kick on the right. His delivery was met by Chris Smalley but he couldn’t get his header on target however and the score line remained 1-0.

Holden made a good stop to keep Darwen in front. From the resulting counter attack, The Reds were presented with a glorious opportunity to double their advantage when skipper Nathan Bond was sensationally denied from close range.

Moments later, Bond and Darwen were left to rue the midfielder’s missed chance as the visitors’ number 14 Alex Hutchinson equalised from close range.

For a period after Thornaby’s equaliser, Darwen saw a lot less of the ball and opportunities in front of goal became fewer and further between.

An outside-of-the-box attempt from Steele which was held by Hunt was the most notable of these.

The game then became a much more even affair once again with The Reds still looking to find a winner on the break.

With just a few minutes of regular time remaining, a delightful cross found Bond who rectified his earlier miss with a superb diving-headed that beat Hunt low down to his left.

Scorer and provider Steele had a hopeful pop from just outside the area which he looked to curl inside Hunt’s left post but the ball fell not far wide of target.

The visitors never really threatened to score a second equaliser and Darwen sealed a victory that saw them through to the Third Round of the FA Vase.

The draw for the Third Round will be made on Monday (14 November). Ties are scheduled to be played over the weekend of Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 December.