Match Report

Darwen hosted Garstang in the first round of the Macron Cup, where they were beaten 4-3 in a penalty shootout.

The Salmoners were held to a 0-0 draw and reduced to ten men in normal time, before two missed penalties saw them exit the competition at the opening stage for the second year in a row.

Play looked to be trending in the same direction as the week before as the hosts got off to another good start, with Kit Lloyd coming close to an opener inside two minutes.

Recent signing Sam Ogundare nearly opened his account on his first start for the club, flicking Pawel Zuk’s corner on at the near post only to be denied by a fast stop from Matthew Hodds.

The Garstang number one got into an unflappable rhythm in the first half, pulling off a number of saves in quick succession to deny Bruno Severino from distance and Mohamed Wassa twice from one-on-one chances.

A frustrating first half was nearly rectified in the one added minute, when Severino wrestled away from his marker on the edge of the box, but the midfielder’s effort was collected again by Hodds.

Bradley Sixsmith forced another high quality save on the hour-mark, his free-kick from 20 yards out being pushed round the post to keep the game level.

Louis Hood was called into action for the first time late on in the game, having to make two reaction saves to keep the scoreline from tipping against the run of play.

After the 80th minute is when the stalemate game was kicked up a notch, firstly with Akim Samms.

The substitute headed wide from close range after Kit Lloyd’s quick feet worked room for a chance inside the box, before Samms had a goal disallowed two minutes later, the ball having gone out of play as Zuk stretched for the cross.

Garstang looked prepared to take advantage of the missed chances, aided by Sixsmith’s dismissal for a headbutt in the middle of a melee three minutes into the ten added on.

Ellis Hancox headed in the resulting free-kick and looked to have broken the deadlock in heartbreaking fashion but a raised flag again halted celebrations, this time for offside.

Charlie Lloyd and Samms had chances to win the game late on, but it still wasn’t enough to find a goal after over 100 minutes of play.

The cup format took the first round tie straight to penalties at The Anchor Ground, with both Luke Draysey and Kit Lloyd seeing their sides’ opening shots kept out by their respective goalkeepers.

Liam Clegg, Ben Turton and Harvey Whittaker all stepped up and converted for the away side, with Severino, Jack Gooden and Gary Basterfield replying to take the shootout to sudden death.

Oliver Cooper made it 4-3 in front of the Darwen fans, before Ogundare’s deciding penalty struck the woodwork twice and bounced off the line to send The Salmoners out.

Interim manager Ben Langford reflected on the cup exit post-match, saying: “To be honest I thought we played really well. We were on top of them all game, but at the end of the day we didn’t put our chances away so that’s what happened.”

Dexter Brierley echoed the reassurance over his side’s display at home, saying: “All in all, we should have probably been three or four up at half-time.

“Not a lot will change, I think it’s important not to overreact, the performance was OK. Not a lot will change, just keep a steady head.”