THE EMIRATES FA CUP

PRELIMINARY ROUND

25/8/2018

AFC DARWEN 1 TRAFFORD 4

Darwen bowed out of the FA Cup competition today, but not without putting up a good show against a club playing two Divisions higher. Kahiel Crosdale made his first team debut for the club.

In the third minute, a Darwen attack broke down with the ball going quickly up to the other end, where Ryan Tweddle was forced into a good save to deny Darius Palma. Ten minutes later, Matty Bryan headed a cross just wide of the Darwen post. Tweddle then had to block away an effort by Ally Brown.

Trafford pressure told on eighteen minutes when Declan Rydings crossed from the right and Andy Langford rose to head home.

Darwen created very little during the half as the visitors dominated. Darius Palma put a header wide in injury time when under no pressure

Half Time: AFC Darwen 0 Trafford 1

If Trafford thought that the game was won, straight from the restart a rejuvenated Darwen pressed forward, and Trafford keeper James Coates had to make two saves, firstly from Nyle Ellis and then from a shot on the turn by Elliot Pond. Another attack five minutes later saw Pond beat the keeper only to for two defenders to hack the ball off the line.

The pressure paid off in the fifty second minute when full back Harrison Green launched a ball into the box forty yards out from the sidelines. The intended cross flew over the heads of all in the area including keeper Coates, off the junction of bar and post, into the top corner of the net.

With fifteen minutes of the game to go, due to a resurgent second half performance by Darwen, it was now anybody’s game, but a mistake by the home defence in trying to play the ball out from a corner instead of booting it clear gifted it to the visitors with Mark Derbyshire glancing a header past Tweddle to put Trafford ahead again.

The home side then had no choice but to push higher upfield to level the match. This led to gaps in the defence and a ball over the top found Derbyshire and Matty Bryan clear with Bryan firing past the helpless Tweddle nine minutes from the end.

Tweddle then made good stops from Derbyshire twice and Palma when the both beat the offside trap again. Bryan hit the post and another shot bounced down from the crossbar with a Darwen leg clearing the ball off the line.

In injury time Ross Davidson put Matty Bryant through to score his second and Trafford’s fourth.

Full Time: AFC Darwen 1 Trafford 4

ATTENDANCE: 174

REFEREE: Akeel Ahmed

ASSISTANTS: Bernard Law, Christian Backhouse

GOALS AND TIMES:

Trafford: Langford (18), Derbyshire (76), Bryan (81, 90+1)

AFC Darwen: Green (52)

OPPONENTS CHOICE AS MAN OF THE MATCH:

Trafford: N/A

AFC Darwen: N/A

YELLOW CARDS: none

RED CARDS: none

TEAMS:

Trafford

1 James Coates

2 Ally Brown

3 Darius Palma

4 Lee Wilshaw

5 Anthony Brown (Capt.)

6 Keil O’Brien

7 Laurence Taylor

8 Andy Langford

9 Aaron Burns

10 Matty Bryan

11 Declan Rydings

12 Chris Palmer

14 Jack Dorney

15 Mark Derbyshire (replaced Burns, 55 minutes)

16 Ross Davidson (replaced Taylor, 63 minutes)

17 Matty Crothers (replaced Rydings, 72 minutes)

18 Tom Schofield

19 Harry Sheridan

AFC Darwen

1 Ryan Tweddle

2 Harrison Green

3 Anthony Hodges (Capt.)

4 John Fraser

5 Sam Knowles

6 Matt Cain

7 Nyle Ellis

8Yahya Saeed

9 Danny Taylor

10 Elliot Pond

11 Corey Harrison

12Martin Parker

14 Kahiel Crosdale (replaced Harrison, 86 minutes)

15 Karl Turner

16 Adam Heaney (replaced Cain, 74 minutes)

18 Jim Brindle

19 Gary Brown