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AFC Liverpool v Darwen Saturday 9 August 2008

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5/1/2008 VODKAT LEAGUE DIVISION TWO DARWEN 1 DAISY HILL 1

Darwen managed to scramble a late draw against bottom of the table Daisy Hill in a dour clash at the Anchor.

The first half was mostly forgettable. After twenty five minutes, Jon Stephenson thought he had beaten the Daisy Hill offside trap to put the ball in the net from a Matt Anderton through pass, but the assistant decided otherwise.

Three minutes before the break came Daisy Hill’s best chance of the half. Lynch managed to keep the ball in play near the halfway line, causing the Darwen players to momentarily stop, and he put a good defence splitting pass through to Irvine and Hughes. As they reached the home box, their passing broke down, enabling Joe Darwin in goal to react quickly and drop on the ball.

At the other end a minute later, Moore in the away goal had to make his first save, as a deflected Dom Slaven shot headed for the far post.

Half Time: Darwen 0 Daisy Hill 0

Paul Mashiter came on for Matt Haworth at the start of the second half, and the new formation caused Daisy Hill some problems for the first fifteen minutes, but several Darwen corners failed to produce a serious threat to goal.

On fifty five minutes, a free kick from forty yards out on the right by Houghton saw the ball flash through the Darwen goal area and out for a goal kick without anyone being able to react.

Chris Pearson was running with the ball from defence into the opponent’s half, when he decided to launch a high lob into the area. The effort caught Moore in goal by surprise, and he had to back pedal to tip the ball over the bar.

Slightly against the run of play, Daisy Hill then took the lead. A corner was headed down by Farnworth, and Joe Darwin managed to get a hand to push the effort out. The rebound fell kindly to Irvine, who returned the ball into the net through a crowd of players.

The goal gave the away side a lift, and they created more chances. Richmond Botchey managed to clear a shot from the boot of Hughes, and Williams swivelled on a through pass, his shot being blocked by Chris Pearson. The ball fell to Houghton who blasted badly wide.

On seventy four minutes, a near own goal occurred, as a Darwen corner hit the knee of a Daisy Hill defender. The ball sailed over the bar, but could just have easily been deflected into the net.

A minute later, a through ball by substitute John Dickinson put Reece Rowinski clear. He outpaced and outmuscled his defender to break into the penalty area, but smashed the shot into the advancing Daisy Hill keeper, and the chance went.

The away side were awarded a free kick outside the area for handball by Paul Mashiter. Houghton took the kick quickly as the wall formed, but it was good enough to block the shot, which rebounded out to Irvine. He floated a pass back into the danger area, with Williams just failing to get a foot to the cross for what looked like a certain goal. Joe Darwin gratefully retrieved the ball.

The Salmoners now started to put more pressure on Daisy Hill, with Jon Stephenson squeezing a shot wide, and Reece Rowinski firing straight at Moore in goal.

The pressure finally paid off with five minutes to go as Stephenson latched on to a through ball, finally beating the opponent’s offside system. As Moore ran out to block, the Darwen striker rounded the keeper and managed to slip the ball into the net from a narrow angle.

Two minutes from the end Daisy Hill man of the match Williams was put clear on the right. Despite the attentions of three Darwen defenders he managed an effort on goal, just wide of the left post.

Full Time: Darwen 1 Daisy Hill 1

ATTENDANCE: 48

REFEREE: N/A
ASSISTANTS: N/A

GOALS:

Daisy Hill: Irvine (62)
Darwen: Stephenson (85)

MAN OF THE MATCH:

Daisy Hill: Danny Williams
Darwen: Jon Stephenson

TEAMS:

Daisy Hill
1. Scott Moore
2. Craig Jones
3. Craig Whittaker
4. Nick Irwin
5. Craig Farnworth
6. Rob Houghton (Capt.)
7. Matt Lynch
8. Martin Irvine
9. Kevan Hughes
10. Ryan Jones
11. Danny Williams
12. Simon Farrell (replaced Lynch, 53 minutes)
14. Mark Armstrong (replaced Houghton, 74 minutes)
15. Dale Scurr (replaced Jones, 82 minutes)
16. Steve Collier

Darwen
1. Joe Darwin
2. Chris Pearson
3. Richmond Botchey
4. Matt Anderton (Capt.)
5. Courtney Crooks
6. Martin Parkes
7. Jordan Hulme
8. Dom Slaven
9. Jon Stephenson
10. Reece Rowinski
11. Matt Haworth
12. Paul Mashiter (replaced Haworth, 45 minutes)
14. Nathan Worrell
15. John Dickinson (replaced Crooks, 67 minutes)
16. Rob Alleyne (replaced Hulme, 67 minutes)
17. Ashley Reece

Comments of manager Wayne Watkins:

The pitch cut up badly after twenty minutes, but it wasn’t the pitch’s fault. Against teams like Daisy Hill, we should be dominating it for ninety minutes. I thought we coasted it for the first half. They didn’t put us under any pressure, and to be fair, we didn’t put them under any pressure. It was a midfield game.

I was pretty confident that we would come out the second half and get a couple of goals. It was a mistake in their attacking third that cost us the game. We didn’t clear our lines. We let the ball bounce, and they just slotted it in. It was poor defending, and poor marking. After that we realised that we were too complacent.

Even though they are bottom of the league, they showed some character and some fight, and so we had to fight to get the equaliser. I brought Paul Mashiter on at half time. I thought that Paul with his experience might be able to unlock it in the middle, and he did well when he came on.

We’ve got to learn from a game like this. We have a young side, we’re pressing forward, and sometimes we’re going to get caught out with big teams that boot the ball forward. They didn’t seem to have any game plan, just smash it forward and hope to nick a goal, and to fair to them, that’s what they did.

I thought our team showed great character. We went one-nil behind, and kept going forward and forward. Daisy Hill had eleven men back defending and it was inevitable that we were going to score. I think it was a fair result at the end of the day.