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22/12/2007 VODKAT LEAGUE DIVISION TWO BLACKPOOL MECHANICS 0 DARWEN 2 Although having several absentees from the side, Darwen recovered from a slow and uneasy start to record a good away win at the seaside today. The home side were unlucky not to go in front after five minutes. A chip from well outside the area by Gibson had Nathan Worrell in goal back peddling. The ball cleared the Darwen keeper, hit the post, and then bounced back into play. A Darwen foot managed to clear the danger. Three minutes later, Blackpool had another chance as the ball was won inside the centre circle and passed through to the speedy winger Gardiner. As the away defence caught up with him on the edge of the area, he mishit the shot with the goal at his mercy, the effort going well wide. Blackpool looked dangerous from corners and Ashall got a clear header to an in-swinging one from the right. He should have done better than put it over the bar. Another corner was headed down by Cairns, but straight into the arms of Worrell in goal. Darwen then started to get into the game, producing some moves which put the Seasiders on the back foot, and their first strike at goal appeared after twenty five minutes. Paul Mashiter and Matt Haworth prepared to take a free kick five yards outside the Blackpool box. Mashiter ran over the ball down the line, and Haworth slipped a pass through, catching the home defence off guard. Cook in goal made a good stop to deny Mashiter’s strike near the goal line. Within a minute another Blackpool corner was causing problems. The ball fell to the feet of Hoogerwerf, whose shot was blocked by Richmond Botchey. The rebound found Ashall, but Martin Parkes got in the way of his effort. On thirty six minutes, Darwen had a shout for a penalty when Reece Rowinski went down under the challenge of Days. The referee did not give the decision and booked the Darwen striker for protesting. Just on half time, another Blackpool corner was cleared by Richmond Botchey after the ball bounced dangerously around the Salmoners’ goal area. Half Time: Blackpool Mechanics 0 Darwen 0 The second half began with both sides building attacks that came to nothing, but Darwen were starting to string some passes together, with both full backs now pushing up to support the attack. This tactical change led to the first goal. On sixty three minutes, John Dickinson got clear down the right, ran down towards the corner flag, and then swung a cross into the area. The ball cleared the front defenders and reached Paul Mashiter, who had anticipated the action. He hooked the ball into the net, leaving Blackpool keeper Cook stranded. Three minutes later, a Matt Haworth free kick from thirty yards out was left by Cook, who judged it to be going well over. The shot dipped and hit the crossbar. The home side still looked a threat from corners, but their best chance had Gardiner blasting well over the bar from the edge of the box. The Seasiders now seemed to be running short of ideas as the Salmoners grew in strength, with their passing game making the home side work hard to retrieve the ball. Darwen sealed the game ten minutes later. Martin Parkes won the ball in midfield, and found Courtney Crooks. Crooks saw the run of Jordan Hulme through the home defence, and drilled a pass to the Darwen forward. Hulme raced clear and coolly slid the ball past a helpless Cook in goal. The same player came close to grabbing a second into injury time. With Blackpool pressing for a consolation goal, the ball was cleared and found Jon Stephenson on the centre line. He laid the ball off to Matt Haworth, who spotted Hulme on another run, and put a pass into his path. Hulme unleashed a dipping shot which Cook in goal just managed to get a hand to, diverting it for a corner. Just on the final whistle, Blackpool could have had a consolation, when Nathan Worrell couldn’t hang on to an angled shot from Hughes. The rebound came back to Hughes, but his second attempt went across the goal and out for a goal kick. Full Time: Blackpool Mechanics 0 Darwen 2 ATTENDANCE: 63 REFEREE: N/A ASSISTANTS: N/A GOALS: Darwen: Mashiter (63), Hulme (84) MAN OF THE MATCH: Blackpool Mechanics: Mark Ashall Darwen: Dom Slaven TEAMS: Blackpool Mechanics 1. Jamie Cook 2. Craig Blinkhorn 3. Lewis Cook 4. Jon Simmons 5. Chris Days 6. Steve Gibson 7. Dax Hoogerwerf 8. Mark Ashall (Capt.) 9. Chris Cairns 10. Anthony Warwick 11. Wayne Gardiner 12. Gavin Hughes 14. Richard Singleton 15. Ben Waddington 16. Terry Green Darwen 1. Nathan Worrell 2. John Dickinson 3. Richmond Botchey 4. Matt Anderton (Capt.) 5. Martin Parkes 6. Paul Mashiter 7. Jordan Hulme 8. Dom Slaven 9. Matt Haworth 10. Reece Rowinski 11. Courtney Crooks 12. Jon Stephenson (replaced Dickinson, 71 minutes) 14. Richmond Botchey 15. Joe Darwin 17. Ash Reece (replaced Rowinski, 71 minutes) 22/12/2007 VODKAT LEAGUE DIVISION TWO BLACKPOOL MECHANICS 0 DARWEN 2 Comments from Wayne Watkins: Today we changed the formation to one striker up front, pack the midfield out, and use our wingers. After a couple of bad defeats, we reverted to our winning combination. The first twenty minutes we were under the cosh, but defended well, came out the second half a different team, dominated for the full forty five minutes, and got the first and second goal that we deserved. We had the centre half and right back change today. We had a few forced changes, so the eleven that were out there today haven’t played together. So it took twenty to twenty five minutes to get used to each other. We played with three strikers up front last week, dominated the game, but didn’t shoot, didn’t score. Today we packed it out in the middle nice and strong. We didn’t want to concede a goal, but hope to nick one or two on the break, and it seems to have worked. At half time we said if we get an early goal in the second half, their heads would drop and we would go on to control the game and that’s what happened. Paul Mashiter popped up to score the second goal. He’s the experience in the middle, the controller. He did really well. He’s got a great engine on him and can go from box to box, and coming back from injury, he’s done fantastically well. He can read the game, and if he feels we’re on top, the plan is to get the ball wide, and he can get forward to support the lone striker. It’s a great result ahead of the Padiham game on Boxing Day. |
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The Anchor Ground, Anchor Road, Darwen, Lancashire. BB3 0BB
The Anchor Ground, Anchor Road, Darwen, Lancashire. BB3 0BB