Darwen v Lancaster Town Lancashire Junior Cup Final 1929

After years of trying Darwen finally reached the Final of the Lancashire Junior Cup in 1929, on the way to the final they beat bacup 4-0 away after a replay in the second round before overcoming eventual champions Chorley, --- with whom an intense rivalry had built up over the years --- 5-2 in-front of 6,000 fans.
The semi-final was played in thick fog away to Ashton National who had several ex-Football league players in their ranks, Darwen went 1-0 down early on in the first half but equalised before half-time. Then a George Shaw goal early in the second half secured a 2-1 win! as the game wore on the visibility was said to be so bad that many of the travelling Darwen fans in the 3,500 crowd had not seen Shaws goal.
The final was played at Preston North End's Deepdale ground on the 12th January 1929, and Darwen's opponents were the "Dollies" Lancaster Town who had appeared in the previous three finals and six in all!
the game was played in-front of 9,000 spectators, and remained on a knife-edge well into the second half, but Lancaster took the lead in the 72nd minute forcing Darwen to push forward to look for a equaliser.
George Shaw-- who had aggravated a existing injury early in the game and so was not able to play to his full potential, missed a great chance to put the Salmoners level before Lancaster scored again with 6 minutes left.
Darwen lost the match 2-0 on the day but in doing so gained some very useful experience of cup-finals that would hold the team in good-stead for the years that followed!

Final score : Darwen 0 Lancaster Town 2
To view the Darwen Final team click here