Darlaston boss Dean Gill made three changes from the side that beat Hednesford Town in the FA Cup, Liam Wilkinson, Louis Baker, and Ryan Winwood returning to the starting line up, with Kieron Miller, Ben Priest and Farid Mikidam reverting to the bench.

The home side made the best possible start going ahead after just two minutes. A James Rowland corner found the head of central defender Ben Podmore at the back post, Podmore rising above everyone to head home past keeper Alec Hill.

The game then became something of a chess match, both sides going toe to toe, neither side giving an inch in a close, cagey, tense and occasionally feisty affair. Former Bromsgrove Sporting striker Chris Cowley looked dangerous for the visitors, combining well with Jake Brown without penetrating the home defence or troubling young keeper Will O'Sullivan. For the home side Ryan Winwood was covering every blade of grass, whilst the strike partnership of Aaron Bishop and Louis Baker started to blossom.

Darlaston were aggrieved midway through the half, when the referee failed to take decisive action following an apparent stamp on Bishop. Darlaston were further aggrieved a few minutes later when they lost influential skipper Alex Foreshaw, after poor control, allowed the ball to slip away from him, and in a desperate attempt to retrieve the situation he pulled back an Atherstone striker. The referee deemed the pull back worthy of a red card, for denying a goalscoring opportunity.

Boss Gill made an immediate change, sacrificing Liam Wilkinson in midfield, bringing on Ben Priest to partner Podmore at the heart of the home defence. The home side playing the remaining 63 minutes with ten men.

Despite their extra man advantage Atherstone were unable to create a clear chance of note in rest of the first half as the home side stood firm, keeper O'Sullivan not having a save of note, to make.

A late Ben Podmore challenge brought about a yellow card whilst Callum Rudd suffered the same fate at the hands of the referee.

The visitors started the second half strongly and pushed forward in search of an early equaliser but could not breach the home defence. Despite being outnumbered, Winwood, James Rowland and Lewis Gill were superb in midfield.

Connor Grudger and Nathan Asthill were excellent for the visitors and a brief spell of pressure paid dividends on 58 minutes, when the visitors were awarded a penalty for a push in the penalty area. Sam Belcher confidently sent the keeper the wrong way with his spot kick.

Somewhat surprisingly the visitors dd not press home their advantage, Darlaston coping comfortably with most of their pressure. Indeed, it was the home side who started to assert and take control, putting pressure on the visitor’s defence. Aaron Bishop was unlucky, when after a superb run through the middle his 20-yard shot rattled against Hill's right-hand post, rebounding to safety.

Substitute Kieron Miller pounced on a poor clearance by Hill, striking first time from 25 yards, Hill making a comfortable save to atone for his error. Teenage substitute Farid Mikidam was proving a handful for the visitor’s central defenders, and he had a 15-yard shot blocked and another effort going wide. Full back Kalo Harrison made a superb run beating several Atherstone players, before running out of steam.

For the visitors, James Matthews made two sublime crossfield passes, beyond the home defence, but the visitors were unable to take advantage of such quality from Matthews.

On 91 minutes the home side's pressure paid off. A corner caused havoc in the home defence, the ball eventually falling to Mikidam 8 yards out, the youngster keeping his composure to drill home the winner. Atherstone player/manager Jamie Hood finding himself in the sin bin for his remarks to the referee.

Following the game Darlaston boss Dean Gill reflected, " We will not have many tougher games than that this season. We have had several tough games already and today was no different. Atherstone are a strong, skilful side with a great fan base, and home or away they make it very difficult for you to play. They have no weaknesses and play some excellent football themselves.

After we went down to ten men, we had to work exceptionally hard and earn the right to play. I thought we did that magnificently. I am sorry to say the referee did not help either side today, some decisions for both sides were a little baffling, stopped the flow of the game and irritated players, supporters, and management alike. Although the game got feisty at times, credit to both teams for generally keeping their cool and wanting to play football.

My guys ran themselves into the ground today, two or three of them were out on their feet. It wasn't our best performance today, but we made up for it, with our work rate, tenacity and never say die attitude. Young Farid, came on late in the game, gave them some problems and was on hand to net himself the winner. I am delighted for him and for the team".