Cheadle Town 2-1 Darwen

Two goals in the last ten minutes helped Cheadle on their way to another three points earned at Park Road.

Cheadle got off to a start as cold as the evening itself. After five minutes, Darwen's first attack of the match produced the opening goal as one of their strikers gobbled up a rebound after an initial shot was blocked. How Darwen then didn't score a second five minutes from the end of the first half was a mystery; Cheadle 'keeper Danny Smith made a superb fingertip save from a header and somehow three Darwen strikers failed to find the net from a yard out when the net was gaping.

In between those two incidents, Cheadle had played well enough in the first half but let themselves down time after time in the final third of the pitch with indecisiveness and/or the wrong pass. Newcomer Christian Powell was having an effective game up front and giving the Darwen defence something to think about with his lightning quick pace. Half-time, 1-0 to Darwen.

Right up until the 80th minute, the second half was following the same pattern as the first: Cheadle with plenty of the possession but no cutting edge up front. As that 80th minute ticked over, Cheadle suddenly remembered how to find the net.

Brocklehurst received the ball from the left and, from 30 yards out, hit a rasping, clean drive that swerved away from the Darwen 'keeper as he tried to grasp it; the ball was hit that hard that it spun off the top of his hands and into the net. When McDonagh advanced on the 'keeper five minutes later and coolly lifted the ball over him, the comeback was complete and Cheadle never looked like losing it.

In the end, it was no less than Cheadle deserved. On his way back into the dressing room, Johnny Hussain turned to me and said "there you are, that was a bit better [than the Padiham away match], wasn't it?"

Agreed!

TEAM: Smith, McDonagh, B Roberts, Cotterill, A Roberts, Brocklehurst, Riley, Lindon, Powell, Martin (Renshaw), Hussain (Brokenbrow). Subs: Renshaw, Brokenbrow, Logan