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14/8/2007 DARWEN 5 ASHTON TOWN 1 Darwen bounced back from a heavy defeat on Saturday to inflict the same on Ashton Town, and moved from 17th to 10th in the Vodkat league Division 2. The highlight of the night was a hat-trick by a player making his debut. After a cautious start, in the eleventh minute, Darwen were awarded a free kick on the touch line inside Ashton’s half. Dennis Hill swung in a dangerous curling ball into the penalty area, which was headed down and into the net by Ricky Fogarty. Almost immediately from kick-off, Hill again swung in a cross from the left. It reached Martin Parkes on the edge of the area, and his first time volley whistled by Ashton’s left post. Ashton created their first chance on 20 minutes when Dunne latched onto a long ball, outpacing the Darwen defence, but Joe Darwin in goal reacted quickly in dashing out to smother the ball. They had a good chance two minutes later as a shot on the edge of the area by McNally went by the post with the Darwen keeper just getting a hand to it. Five minutes later, the same player turned Neil Almond, but his shot again went just by the post. Darwen had some good fortune on 35 minutes, when a whipped in Ashton corner went through everyone and out for a goal kick, but were unlucky five minutes later as Lee Stott put a ball into the Ashton area. It was headed down by Jon Stephenson, but Jason Jones could not react quickly enough and lobbed the shot over the bar from five yards out. Half Time: Darwen 1 Ashton Town 0 Early in the second half, Martin Parkes hit a first time volley from a Darwen corner, but Ashton keeper Haseldine somehow managed to punch it away to safety, but Ashton were looking frail at this point, and new signing Ben Stanford ran onto a defence splitting pass to beat Haseldine with ease on 52 minutes. Within ten minutes, Darwen made it three, with Jason Jones intercepting an Ashton attack, and putting a through ball to Stanford, who again finished the move. Three minutes later, Ashton Town were awarded a free kick inside their own half. They took the kick quickly, albeit at least five yards further up the field from where the offence took place. Both referee and assistant let this go, catching the home team off guard. The long kick found Dunne on the edge of the Darwen area, and he volleyed the ball past Joe Darwin. Darwen substitute Dominic Slaven made an impact almost immediately after coming on, when he made a run with the ball from the halfway line, beating two defenders and unleashing a shot that Haseldine could only block. The ball rebounded to Ricky Fogarty, but his shot sailed over the bar. Three minutes later, the home team’s fourth goal arrived. A misplaced Ashton pass was intercepted by Jason Jones, who made a forceful run into the away team’s area. Haseldine could only palm away his strike, and the ball fell to Ben Stanford, who coolly despatched it into the net for his hat-trick. Dominic Slaven virtually repeated his earlier move on 78 minutes to help create goal number five. At the end of his run he slipped the ball sideways to Ricky Fogarty, who chipped over Haseldine into the net. Full Time: Darwen 5 Ashton Town 1 After the game, Darwen manager Steve Mullen commented: “I’m delighted, not just with the result, but the performance. I’ve made some major changes and may have a few casualties. I made the decision tonight on how I was going to play, and that I’d stand by it or fall by it. I was well pleased with the big fellah Ben. Both my young keepers are inexperienced, but are willing to compete with each other in the right manner. I was also pleased with the young lads that came off the bench.” ATTENDANCE: 52 GOALS: Darwen: Fogarty (11, 78), Stanford (52, 62, 75) Ashton Town: Dunne (65) TEAMS: Ashton Town 1. James Haseldine 2. Jonathan Bullough 3. Rob Farrington 4. Paul Veall 5. Ross McNair 6. Mike Rhead 7. Simon Howard 8. Paul Prescott 9. Alex Dunne 10. Chris McNally 11. ?? 12. Paul Crewe (Replaced Veall) 14. Peter Phillips (replaced Howard) 15. Liam Jeffrey (Replaced Rhead) Darwen 1. Joseph Darwin 2. Stuart Telfer 3. Lee Stott 4. Daniel Finch 5. Neil Almond 6. Martin Parkes 7. Richard Fogarty 8. Jason Jones 9. Jon Stephenson 10. Ben Stanford 11. Dennis Hill 12. Ross Dawson 14. Dominic Slaven (Replaced Stephenson, 71 minutes) 15. Josh Eastwood (Replaced Stanford 89 minutes) 16. Chris Ingham (Replaced Parkes, 85 minutes) |
Copyright © 2007-2008 Darwen Football & Social Club Ltd . Company registered in England No. 01107666.
The Anchor Ground, Anchor Road, Darwen, Lancashire. BB3 0BB
The Anchor Ground, Anchor Road, Darwen, Lancashire. BB3 0BB