Darlaston travelled to across the Black Country into Rowley Regis to play their first reurn fixture of the season when they took on a much changed Black Country Rangers at York Road a ground they share with Bustleholme.
Black Country started with the with the exception of one player a totally changed starting XI to the one they fielded at The Paycare Ground four Saturdays ago when Darlaston won 4-0. Darlaston’s management team made two changes to last weeks starting XI, in came new signing Scott Stevenson who join the club midweek from Tipton Town he replaced Romano Graham who dropped to the bench, in came the returning Reis Nadat for the injured Ryan Jones.
Whilst the conditions were testing at York Road Stadium in a swirling wind and on a bumpy pitch both sides in attempted to play football. In the opening early exchanges Black Country Rangers had the better of the possession but were unable to create any chances in the final third to threaten Whittaker’s goal as Darlaston’s backline held firm.
Despite giving the ball away too cheaply early in the game, after 18 minutes Darlaston started to grow in the game. They created the best chances of the half. Bolzon ran at the heart of the defence a clear reverse ball was met by Leon Taylor who was foiled by an outstanding last-ditch tackle from Black Country left back Musa Jawara just as he was about to shoot from 12 yards out. The second was just on the stroke of half time, an exceptionally brave diving block at the feet of Daniel Bolzon keeper Shane Maydew kept the scores level .
The visitors finished the better of the two sides and half-time came at the wrong time because they were really starting to put the home side under real pressure.
Darlaston walked off the pitch at halftime the happier of the two sides having had a best the better of the last 10 minutes of the half. Black Country Rangers during the half-time interval needed to find a way of converting all of their possession and good approach play into clear-cut chances.
The second half was another tense affair, neither side created anything clear cut, despite both managers making changes. Darlaston were a little more direct forcing a number of corners, but neither side could build up any pressure, because the half was littered with silly fouls.
In the end Darlaston went home with a well-deserved point, a true backs to the wall battling performance, the players kept their shape exceptionally well. Liam Whittaker Darlaston’s keeper never had to make a save in the whole 90 minutes, due to the quality of his defence and Black Country Rangers lack of creativity in the final third, despite dominating possession for periods especially in the first half.
Tuesday evening Darlaston Welcome Walsall Swifts to the Paycare Ground for a first round JW Hunt Cup match, kick off 7.45 pm