Match Report

Darwen hosted AFC Blackpool for The Towers derby, where they were beaten 2-0.

The Salmoners fell to their second defeat of the season in a game that saw both sides reduced to 10 men, leaving them in ninth place in the NWCFL First Division North after a poor home performance.

An even start to the game was disrupted after 20 minutes, with AFC Blackpool defender James Stanley shown the first red card of the game for a handball as the last man.

Joshua Abbott’s touch past the defender would have put him through on goal, before Stanley stretched out an arm to stop the counter attack, only being dismissed after the linesman spotted the infringement.

Darwen did have the ball in the net six minutes on from the red card, with Jack Foster’s free-kick striking the post before rebounding to an offside Charlie Lloyd with an open net.

The home side continued to use their man advantage to get at The Mechs’ defence, with Abbott and Brandon Dawson both having efforts blocked by a wall of green shirts.

Ryan Talbot had two chances to put his side ahead before half-time, first being denied extraordinarily from close range by James Whittingham after following up Abbott’s shot.

Pawel Zuk picked out Talbot just before the whistle went, but the striker’s header was collected by Whittingham despite a solid connection with his effort.

The missed chances eventually caught up with Darwen, struggling to ever get going in the second half.

Three changes early on saw new man Will Shawcross introduced, right before AFC Blackpool took the lead through a stunning James Hughes goal.

10 minutes into the half a series of failed clearances saw the ball break to Hughes 25 yards out, with Louis Hood helpless to stop the shot.

Corey Adams doubled the visitors’ lead six minutes later, after another Darwen build-up broke down in their own half, with Hood beaten by another unstoppable effort as Adams’ volley strike landed in the bottom corner.

The Salmoners’ afternoon went from bad to worse not long after the hour mark, with Bruno Severino given a second yellow card for an alleged dive on the edge of the box, despite no yellow card having been reported for the number eight up to that point.

Daniel Smith and Hughes had chances to make it 3-0 as the game trickled out, both players missing just wide of the post with their chances.

Right-back Zuk remained the hosts’ only bright spark in the second half, creating a number of chances that fell to nothing.

Whittingham had one more showstopping save to make in the last minute, getting a strong hand to Mohamed Wassa’s half-volley after Zuk’s cross fell to the substitute 12 yards out.

Missed chances and an out of character performance made for a dismal afternoon for Darwen in poor conditions, the loss leaving them with seven points from the opening five games.

Leighton Mills reacted to the defeat post-match, saying: “They wanted it more than us and we were absolutely abysmal.

“That’s probably one of my worst moments in management, because that’s not a Leighton Mills team at all.

“There’ll be some serious changes going into next week.

“We certainly won’t be panicking.” he added.

“There’ll still be the same messages. All that will be different is that starting 11 here next Saturday. We have to change stuff because something’s not right out there.”