AFC Darwen vs 1874 Northwich | 1874 Northwich F.C.

AFC Darwen vs 1874 Northwich

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Recap

Ian Street’s side secured their sixth win on the bounce with a good all round team performance at AFC Darwen to top the form table in the NWCFL

They have now won ten of their last eleven league games and sit in third position – four points behind Formby with a game in hand Ryan Mitchell returned to the line up having recovered from injury whilst Sakeel Abdullah made his debut. After a tentative opening ten minutes from both sides 1874 almost took the lead when good work from Wellstead presented Abdullah with an excellent opportunity but his shot cleared the bar.two minutes later and the same two players combined well once more with the same result. However, 1874 did take the lead in the 17th minute from the penalty spot following a needless handball – Wellstead dispatching the spot kick comfortably in to the right hand corner. Before the restart the home side were reduced to ten men as one of their players was shown a red card for persistent arguing with the referee. However, 1874 didn’t dominate proceedings after this as play switched from end to end with both sides having half chances. The best chance for 1874 was after good work by Bailey and Abdullah but after Wellstead was presented with a chance his finishing was not as good as his penalty had been earlier. As the half time interval approached 1874 finally scored their much-needed second goal and this was scored by Abdullah as he followed up Brandon’s shot which bounced off the keeper and the debutant cooly passed the ball into the net in the 45th minute 1874 started the second half as they had finished the first with a goal in the 46th minute and this time the scorer was Matty Ward as he responded quickly to a shot from Brandon that rebounded off the keeper. Ward rounded the keeper with ease before slotting the ball home much to the delight of the large following of 1874 supporters. After this the home goal was threatened several times in just a few minutes as first Ryan Stewart saw an excellent shot well saved and then Brandon was through on goal only to shoot narrowly wide. At the other end, Ryan Mitchell cleared an effort off the line as Darwen continued to open their account to get back into the game. But on 70 minutes it was leading scorer Brandon’s turn to get on the scoresheet and he did so with the best goal of the game. Ward was the provider with some cute skill before slotting the ball into the path of Brandon who fired home from 14 yards to make it 4-0. With 18 minutes remaining David Short came on to replace Wellstead and he very nearly scored the fifth goal but his snap shot from 20 yards out was well saved. Soon after there was a fifth goal but it turned out to be a consolation goal for the home side following some lacklustre defending by 1874 which allowed Gaul to prod the ball home as he was unmarked on the far post. This was the final goal of the game although both sides did create further chances. Credit must go to Darwen who continued to compete well despite being a man short for much of the game but 1874 deserved to take the points. Central defenders Farnworth and Thomas were outstanding for 1874 and the management,players and supporters now look forward to the weekend when they meet up with Atherton Collieries. 1874: Conkie, Mitchell, Farnworth, Thomas, Duckworth, Wellstead, Bailey, Stewart, Abdullah, Brandon and Ward. Subs Short replaced Wellstead and Lunn replaced Abdullah – unused: Bowyer, Woods and Aston

Details

Date Time League Season
Wed 19 Mar 2014 7:45 pm NWCFL 1st Division 2013/14

Ground

WEC Group Anchor Ground
Anchor Rd, Darwen BB3 0AZ, UK

Results

Club1st Half2nd HalfGoals
AFC Darwen011
1874 Northwich224

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