Match Report

Darwen were at home to Route One Rovers on Saturday January 18, where they got back to winning ways with a thumping 4-0 win.

The Salmoners’ came into the fixture eighth in the league table, nine points from the play-off positions, whereas Route One started third bottom, winless in their last four.

Jefferson Goncalves De Abreu was awarded his first start for Darwen on the day and got his side off to a flyer, following up Connor Hughes’ shot only to be brought down by keeper Dane Byron for a penalty.

Rio Wilson-Heyes calmly stepped up to bury the ball for 1-0 inside seven minutes, grabbing his 10th goal of the season in all competitions.

The hosts appeared to have doubled their lead just a minute later, but a heavily questionable offside call denied Wilson-Heyes an early brace, with De Abreu involved again this time down the right hand side.

Unsurprisingly the game settled into a slower pace after a hectic opening 10, with both sides failing to create any gilt-edge opportunities.

Nathan Emery picked up the first card of the game 18 minutes in, nudging the Route One right-back over following a loose ball, however the card drama was far from over.

Seven minutes on, Route One’s Danyal Yasin put in a horribly timed tackle, with his studs going straight over a bouncing ball into the knee of De Abreu, giving the referee little option but to send him off.

The number nine certainly took his time leaving the pitch amidst jeers from the Darwen supporters and even looked as if he was refusing to leave the side of the pitch for the changing rooms.

Darwen carried the lead comfortably into half-time but missed a handful of chances to extend their lead.

Nario Baptista and De Abreu continued their quality work down the right wing, both finding the head of Connor Hughes who was unable to turn either on target, clipping the keeper’s left post with one.

Against the run of play, it was the visitors who started the second half more comfortably, Zakariya Khan having his first attempt blocked by Charlie Lloyd following a counter attack.

Jayden Major and De Abreu attempted to gain back some control on their respective wings with support from Emery and half-time replacement Hensley Mills, but neither side could produce crosses worthy of a second goal.

Leighton Mills’ changes after the hour mark came in perfect timing, with Route One’s second dismissal coming just two minutes on.

Waqas Azam appeared to be given a sinbin 67 minutes in, before the referee spun round to show him a straight red card, appearing to have heard a second comment from the same player.

Once again the home fans were enjoying themselves as the opposition player left the pitch, but it was The Salmoners’ support who had to endure more of the stress over the next ten minutes.

Dropping to nine men seemed to inspire a short fightback from the Bradford side, with James Aspinall finding himself in no man’s land on the 70th minute.

Luckily for Darwen’s number one, skipper Christopher Bailey was ready to spare his blushes, before being forced into a near post save three minutes later after an awkward deflection from close range.
With only 15 minutes to go, the floodgates finally opened.

Rio Wilson-Heyes found Hughes down the right, with our number nine’s cut-back falling kindly to left-back Nathan Emery, who unleashed a cool outside of the boot finish into the top right corner.

Four minutes on and Darwen had their third, with Bruno De Almeida Severino’s corner reaching Charlie Lloyd at the far post, who didn’t know too much about the ball he turned into the back of the net.

Severino continued to demonstrate himself as the heartbeat of the midfield, playing Connor Hughes in behind just a minute later.

Hughes had his initial effort denied in the one-on-one, before substitute Jamie Ramwell connected with the follow-up to see the ball trickle in for a fourth.

90 minutes in and Darwen still weren’t done pushing. Severino found Wilson-Heyes with a pass through the wall at a free-kick, before the number ten wrestled his way through the crowd and eventually to the ground for a second penalty of the afternoon.

However, his brace wasn’t to be, as his effort was denied in added time, with the game finishing at a comfortable 4-0 scoreline.

The win took the Salmoners’ seventh in the NWCFL Division One North and thanks to other results, leaves them only six points from a play-off place with 10 games left to play.