Match Report

Darwen travelled north to face Garstang on Saturday December 14, where they dominated the 90 minutes to win 2-0.

The Salmoners came into the tie 10th in the NWCFL Division One North hoping to make it five wins on the spin in the league, whereas hosts Garstang were second bottom.

It didn’t take long for the drama to start on the day, with a dismissal inside two minutes.

Frontman Connor Hughes robbed Garstang centre-half Kyle Lewis of the ball in the defender’s own final third before being pulled down whilst through on goal.

The referee showed no hesitation to blow for the foul and show a red card to Garstang’s number four, bringing the home side down to 10 men before they could even get going in the game.

Darwen quickly took advantage of the extra man and began to chip away at the Garstang backline.

Hughes and Nathan Emery combined a number of times to work the ball down the left and find crosses into the box, but couldn’t force many saves from Garstang’s keeper.

Rio-Wilson Heyes was the standout performer from the first-half, repeatedly beating right-back Efosa Ogbeide to attack the Garstang defence.

He did find the net 34 minutes in from one of Nathan Emery’s well worked left-footed crosses, yet a debateable offside call from the linesman on the far side ruled out an opener.

The ball looked to have been played straight across the face of goal but the decision called Wilson-Heyes as ahead of his teammate.

Despite the action from Darwen, it was an early substitution that was the major talking point at half-time.

Leighton Mills replaced Fenton Reeves with Jayden Major with less than five minutes left to play in the half, much to the annoyance of Darwen’s number 10 who went straight into the changing room.

Despite any raised eyebrows over the early change, it was the replacement who was the centre of attention at the start of the second half.

Hensley Mills created two chances in two minutes for the winger who was denied a goal on both occasions, however, it was third time lucky.
52 minutes in and Major found the bottom right with a fantastic curled effort after he worked his way infield from the left flank, finally breaking the deadlock against the ten-man side.

The remainder of the game was equally frustrating as it was entertaining.

Darwen played almost the entire last 40 minutes in Garstang’s half, controlling the tempo perfectly and creating chance after chance.
Despite this quality game management the second goal just wasn’t coming.

Mills and Kit Lloyd kept control of possession for Darwen brilliantly, tidying up any loose ball and creating chances of their own, but the end product was never quite perfect in front of goal.

The game carried on this way all the way up to the end, with Nathan Bond hitting the crossbar with his effort from the edge of the box, and it wasn’t until the 93rd minute that the visitors could finally relax.

With the last touch of the game Connor Hughes met Emery’s cross with a guided header to find the bottom corner, finally rewarding the left-back’s attacking work.

The victory away from home gave Darwen their much deserved five game win streak and leaves The Salmoners 11 points off Euxton Villa’s fifth place play-off spot, who they face next on boxing day.