Match Report

Darwen travelled to the most northern stadium in the league where they got back to winning ways with a 2-1 win against Holker Old Boys.

The Salmoners picked up all three points to move back into the top five of the NWCFL First Division North, with goals from Joshua Abbott and new signing Brandon Dawson proving the difference against the ten men of Holker.

Two early scares nearly saw the visitors 2-0 down within five minutes, with Holker Old Boys failing to convert from two separate one-on-ones against Louis Hood.

Despite the start it was Darwen who took the lead after seven minutes, with Brandon Dawson heading home on his debut after an excellent run and cross from Pawel Zuk at right-back.

Hood was called into action again 10 minutes after the opener, producing a brilliant reaction save when Charlie McGladdery’s cross was met with a volley at close range.

Zuk continued his positive start to the game to keep his side ahead, backtracking to stop a promising Holker attack as they looked to catch Darwen out once again.

Eventually the Salmoners settled into the match and got their usual control over possession, finding a second goal soon after doing so.

A goalmouth scramble following Dawson’s shot saw Joshua Abbott bundle the ball over the line to double Darwen’s lead and leave them running comfortably into the break.

An eventful first half wasn’t done yet however, with two yellow cards and a red shown with just two minutes to go.

Charlie McGladdery crashed into Jack Gooden with a late tackle, causing centre-back Jack Wright to step in before chaos unfolded on the sideline.

Holker midfielder Joseph McGladdery was dismissed for a headbutt, seemingly on Charlie Lloyd, before Wright and Charlie McGladdery were both shown yellow cards for their roles in the altercation.

The second half looked set to be a much calmer 45 minutes, with Ryan Talbot coming close to making it a 3-0 lead from another Pawel Zuk cross.

Holker managed to massively upset the game on the 62nd minute, with Charlie McGladdery arriving at the back post to tap in and get a goal back for the home side.

Tyler Spence missed a vital chance four minutes later when Jack Wright misjudged a long ball, but the number eight’s attempted lob sailed way over the crossbar and threw away the chance for an equaliser.

The game quickly returned to a knife-edge affair, with Talbot again coming close to a goal only a minute after Spence’s miss after robbing the ball from the Holker goalkeeper, but his effort towards an open net was scuffed.

Daniel Price-Jordan impressed off the bench late on, launching a number of attacks himself as Darwen searched for another goal.

Another 18-yard box scramble saw Charlie Lloyd’s effort directed onto the post before Dawson’s rebound was disallowed for offside with only a minute left on the clock, before Louis Hood’s heroics at the other end sealed Darwen’s win.

Hood produced two saves in added time to keep his side ahead and round off yet another impressive performance for the Salmoners’ keeper.

Speaking after the game, manager Leighton Mills expressed his satisfaction with his team’s turnaround after the loss to Squires Gate.

“We got a reaction out of them on Wednesday, which was needed to set us up for today.” Mills said. “It’s the biggest and best reaction that you could have after a loss.”

The gaffer also spoke about how pleased he was with the changes to the set-up.
“I thought we were much better today in a different shape, which is what we worked on.” he said.

“We just needed the right players in, which Brandon gives us, to play the formation.
“And its shown today as well with Bruno’s quality, I think that’s the best we’ve seen of Bruno in a Darwen shirt.”