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TEAM NEWS 10/11/2007 FROM WAYNE WATKINS Both Jason Jones and Jon Stephenson will be available for the next match after serving their suspensions. Dennis Hill had ankle ligament damage, but should start training this week, so needs a few more weeks. Ricky Fogarty is on holiday. New signing Reece Rowinski played for Rossendale reserves last season. They no longer have a reserve team, and we picked him up from amateur football. He is very strong, very positive, and very direct. 10/11/2007 VODKAT LEAGUE CUP - ROUND 2 DARWEN 2 NELSON 0 It was an unhappy return for Nelson manager and former Darwen favourite Denny Khan, as his new club were beaten in this league cup tie. Darwen manager Wayne Watkins still had a good number of the senior squad missing, due to injuries and suspensions, and so had to again field a very young side. Nelson had a chance to open the scoring on three minutes after Joe Darwin was impeded by his own defender as he climbed to gather a cross. The ball fell to Posteraro on the edge of the area, who then proceeded to blast his strike over the bar. The away side were made to rue that chance as Darwen took the lead two minutes later. Matt Haworth floated a free kick from midway in the half towards the Nelson penalty area. Martin Parkes got in front of his marker to head the ball down towards goal. Pickard managed to get a hand to the ball, but couldn’t prevent Parkes, who reacted quickly, from finishing off his own effort. Within fifteen minutes Posteraro missed another goal scoring opportunity, as he swivelled on a shot in the area, but put the ball wide. A good move by Nelson five minutes later saw Ridehalgh split the Darwen defence with a pass to Thompson on the wing. He ran down to the flag and pulled a cross back to Ainsworth. His volley was well struck, but somehow Joe Darwin managed to get a hand to the ball to punch it away for a corner. Ridehalgh had a chance himself on thirty four minutes, when a clearance fell to him on the edge of the Darwen area. His drive just cleared the bar. With five minutes of the first half to go, and against the run of play, Darwen went two up. From a throw on the left, the ball was taken down the sidelines, and then a low cross was put along the Nelson goal area line. Several players failed to make contact, but Jordan Hulme had ghosted in at the far edge, and slotted the ball home. Half Time: Darwen 2 Nelson 0 It was thought that Nelson would come out for the second half with all guns blazing, but the Salmoners, with Matt Anderton and Danny Finch commanding in defence, seemed to cope comfortably with the few threats that occurred. Twenty minutes into the second half, Darwen’s Courtney Crooks, who had fired just over from outside the area in the first half, latched on to a loose ball in the same position. His dipping volley brought out a splendid tip over the bar from Nelson keeper Pickard. With twenty minutes to go, the visitors were awarded a free kick five yards outside the Darwen area. The shot rebounded off the wall to Denning, whose volley had to be turned over by Joe Darwin. New signing Reece Rowinski replaced Paul Mashiter up front on seventy five minutes, and perhaps should have got his name on the score sheet three minutes later. Nelson had pushed up to the half way line in an effort to apply some pressure, and were caught out by a ball over the top, raced on to by Rowinski. Two defenders failed to catch him, as he reached the Nelson penalty area. The Darwen striker put a raking ball past Pickard, but the keeper somehow managed to get fingertips to the ball, which ran away for a corner. A minute later, Danny Finch broke free down the right, and his cross into the Nelson box found Rowinski unmarked. It appeared to be an easy tap in, but somehow Pickard got a hand to the ball and divert it over the bar. By this stage, the away side seemed to have given up the struggle, and Darwen proceeded to increase their attacks in the last few minutes. A one-two between Martin Parkes and Jordan Hulme saw Hulme slice an effort wide. Matt Haworth broke through the tiring Nelson defence to put a cross over to Reece Rowinski. His effort was again foiled by a last ditch block from Pickard. The Nelson keeper then had to be on the alert in pushing the resulting corner over the bar. Full Time: Darwen 2 Nelson 0 ATTENDANCE: N/A REFEREE: N/A ASSISTANTS: N/A GOALS: Darwen: Parkes (5), Hulme (40) MAN OF THE MATCH: Nelson: Andy Pickard Darwen: Dom Slaven TEAMS: Nelson 1. Andy Pickard 2. Mark Banyard 3. Alex Mugan 4. Chris Keating 5. Darren Wright 6. Nathan Benson 7. Liam Denning (Capt.) 8. Chris Ridehalgh 9. Paul Posteraro 10. Sean Thompson 11. Glen Ainsworth 12. Paul Jones (replaced Mugan, 67 minutes) 14. Carl Turner 15. Lee Turner (replaced Thompson, 52 minutes) 16. Paul Morley 17. Ryan Cross (replaced Wright, 45 minutes) Darwen 1. Joe Darwin 2. Chris Pearson 3. Danny Finch 4. Matt Anderton (Capt.) 5. Paul Walker 6. Martin Parkes 7. Jordan Hulme 8. Matt Haworth 9. Dom Slaven 10. Paul Mashiter 11. Courtney Crooks 12. John Dickinson (replaced Pearson, 75 minutes) 14. Ashley Reece 15. Richmond Botchey 16. Reece Rowinski (replaced Mashiter, 75 minutes) 17. Nathan Worrell Manager Wayne Watkins comments:
We played four-five-one. We played a passing game. What we wanted to do was to sit back and catch them on the counter attack. I thought we did that brilliantly. Soaked up the pressure, man for man marking, pressurise them every time they got the ball. Once they lost possession in our half, bang, attack them quickly. With fast wingers and three guys in the middle, we caught them out twice.
I thought that Nelson would come out hundred miles an hour in the second half, but they couldn’t rise to the challenge. I thought we controlled the game for the whole forty five minutes. We brought a couple of fresh legs on late in the game and could have had three or four goals in the last five or ten minutes. I thought their keeper was superb. He made some brilliant saves to keep the score down.
I thought the referee had a good game. Too many times, referees come to grounds and get badgered by managers and players. I think he held his own. He made his decisions, stuck by them, and was strong in those decisions. I think managers need to respect those decisions a bit more. |
The Anchor Ground, Anchor Road, Darwen, Lancashire. BB3 0BB