Bromyard 1 Darlaston Town (1874) 2

Darlaston extended their winning sequence to four games with a hard fought win against a plucky Bromyard side languishing near the foot of the table. Manager Mark Swann made just one change Charlton replacing the unavailable Matthew Martin.

In torrential rain and difficult playing conditions both sides were guilty of poor control and passing and despite being on top in the early stages Darlaston were unable to find any real fluency against their struggling opponents. Sam Melia and Hayden Hughes both created shooting chnaces for themselves but both failed to trouble home keeper Alex Rhodes. The deadlock was finally broken in the 20th minute with Darlaston's first flowing move of the game. Some good work by Kieron Parsons and Lucas Hough set up Melia who cut inside his marker to whip in a left wing cross which was met by Luke Charlton's deft 8 yard header eluding keeper Rhodes for his first goal for the club.

Holylee and Shuttleworth were industrious for the home side and in Ryan Glenister they had the best player on the pitch, but Darlaston held the upper hand and could have extended their lead on several occasions, Swann heading wide from a Sam Giles corner whilst Hough, Melia and Charlton all had shots saved by Rhodes. The home side responded with Matt Smith and Sam Cupper having long range efforts easily saved by by visiting keeper Aaron Morris.

The weather and playing conditions made playing good quality football difficult for both sides but the work rate and energy could not be faulted.

The visitors doubled their lead within 50 seconds of the second half. The combination of Hough and Parsons were again instrumental in setting up the goal combining down the left wing with Hough finding Hayden Hughes who shrugged off his marker and from an acute angle hit an unstoppable shot from 4 yards which found the back off the net after hitting the underside of the bar.

A lack of concentration in the Darlaston midfield and defence saw the home side pull a goal back less than a minute later. Holylee broke through the heart of the midfield unchallenged and set up Shuttleworth who was free on the edge of the box , his shot was parried by keeper Morris but Matt Smith was on hand to shoot home from 10 yards.

The goal gave the home side confidence to push on for an equaliser and Glenister was impressive prompting and probing from midfield looking for opportunities to set up his forwards but Craig Ball, Swann and Ryan McAllister stood firm and Darlaston witheld the pressure with keeper Morris rarely troubled.

Debutant substitutes, 18 year old Sam Baxter and new signing Josh Carvel added some pace and finesse , Carvel shooting over the bar from 22 yards. The visitors should have put the game beyond doubt in the 74th minute when Carvel found Hughes unmarked but the striker snatched at his shot, shooting high and wide from 16 yards.

The final 15 minutes saw Bromyard push forward for the equaliser but the visitors held out comfortably ensuring their journey back from deepest Herfordshire was with another 3 points secured.

Following the game player/ manager Mark Swann reflected " We were a long way from our best today. The conditions were difficult for both sides and we simply could not get our passing game going. Bromyard worked very hard and in Ryan Glenister they had a player who always posed a threat but I think the result and scoreline was fair. We didn't have a stand out player today but I thought everyone put in a good shift and I was delighted with our work rate. We had a strong bench today and I was pleased with the impact youngster Sam Baxter and Josh Carvel made when they came on".

This Saturday Darlaston are at home to Wrens Nest FC in a West Midlands Regional League Division One fixture. Kick Off is 3.00pm at The Paycare Ground, Bentley Leisure Pavilion, Bentley WS2 0EA.