Droylsden F.C.-The bloods on the net!

DROYLSDEN 1 – 0 DARLINGTON

FA Cup 1st Round (Replay) – Monday 18 November 2008

Report by Gary Owen

Matthew Tipton was the toast of the Butcher's Arms on Tuesday night when his goal part-way through the first half was sufficient to secure The Bloods a trip to Chesterfield in the second round on Saturday week.

Droylsden have only progressed this far in the competition on one previous occasion, that being thirty years ago when they recorded a 1-0 victory at Rochdale.

Many punters believed the Blue Square North side had had their chance when achieving a draw in Darlington – could they match the Coca-Cola League Two leaders for another ninety minutes?

Well, in reality, they did more than that, and few would argue that Dave Pace's men did not deserve this victory.

Droylsden created the early chances, with Neil Prince shooting straight at Andy Oakes, and Colin Cryan headed over from Sean Newton's cross.

Darlo then began to exert themselves, with Kyle Clancy having to hold on to a dangerous free kick from Ryan Valentine.

However, The Bloods struck gold on 26 minutes thanks to another good run by Newton. His low cross from the left was missed by Carl Lamb, but Tipton swivelled to hook home with his left foot at the far post in front of the swathes of home fans.

Moments later, Tipton scuffed his shot from Prince's pass before Cryan headed Newton's free kick goalwards, with Oakes having to scamper across his goal to save.

As half-time drew nearer, Prince again shot straight at Oakes as the home side bossed the game.

An unusual slip by Mike Byron allowed Greg Blundell a free run at goal for the visitors, but Cryan rescued his fellow defender with a splendid tackle to clear the danger.

In first half added time, Prince worked an opening to cross into the box, and Lamb almost doubled the lead when his header scraped the outside of the post.

Shortly after the break, Liam Hatch should have done better for Darlington when a lofted ball eluded Kyle Clancy, leaving the striker a clear shot at goal at the far post, but his shot on the turn went wastefully over the bar.

As the half wore on, Darlington began to press more, but Adam White was guilty of heading over on a couple of occasions from good positions.

The game was then held-up for thirty minutes when Hatch suffered a spinal injury following an innocent collision with a team-mate. After waiting patiently for the paramedics to arrive, given the seriousness of the injury, he was finally stretchered off to hospital with rapturous applause from all around the ground, and clearly all at the game were hoping that his injuries were not too serious.

Play recommenced with 13 minutes remaining, but with Dave Penney using all of his substitutions, Darlington had to try and rescue the tie with just ten men.

Whilst they pressed hard, they were inevitably caught on the break by the rampant Bloods, with several players trying, unsuccessfully, to cement the victory. Firstly, Jamie McGuire had Oakes dashing across his goal, but his shot was a few yards wide.

Then Domain Rouse pulled his effort just wide of the upright after good work by Ashley Burbeary, before McGuire again registered an effort, but this time it was straight at Oakes.

Finally, Alex Brown's volley went wide before the referee brought matters to a close, prompting a pitch invasion by the elated home support.

Given Droylsden's performance over 180 minutes against the league leaders, Chesterfield will surely not under-estimate the capability of Dave Pace's side, as both sides go head-to-head – 90 minutes away from a potentially plumb tie with a Premiership team in Round Three.

TEAMS:

Droylsden

Clancy, Brownhill, Newton, Byron (Halford, 77'), Cryan, Brown, Beck (Burbeary, 75'), McGuire, Tipton, Lamb, Prince. (Rouse, 64').

Unused Subs: Dugdale, Townson, Roche, Pickford.

Darlington

Oakes, Austin, Valentine, White, Miller (Griffin, 66'), Kennedy (Hulbert, 48'), Purdie, Ravenhill (Ryan, 69'), Blundell, Hatch, Foran.

Unused Subs: Kazimierczak, Poole, Main, Riley

Referee: Mr. K. Wright (Peterborough, )

ATTENDANCE: 1,672