Lewis On Sport

Darwen concluded their preparation for the upcoming season by retaining the Martin Vizzard Memorial Trophy with a resounding 5-2 victory over Turton.

Prior to kick-off, all players, officials and supporters impeccably observed a minute’s applause in tribute to the late Martin Vizzard – Turton’s ex-chairman who sadly passed away from a brain tumour in 2014 at the age of just 39 and all proceeds from ticket sales went to The Brain Tumour Charity – the largest dedicated funder of research into brain tumours globally.

Turton got the game underway. Initially, the West Lancashire League side looked sharper than the Salmoners and they took the lead after just 6 minutes when a close range shot from Steven Fitton took a wicked deflection off a Darwen man and looped over Fieldhouse before bouncing into the bottom left-hand corner.

It seemed as though Darwen were struggling to settle early on as the Salmoners found themselves repeatedly guilty of losing possession way too easily.

Darwen were awarded a penalty after 16 minutes for a foul on the trialist, by Turton keeper, Josh McGreavy. Creech coolly converted – sending the Turton keeper the wrong way from twelve yards. 1-1.

Four minutes later, Turton re-took the lead. The ball was fizzed across the face of goal from the right-hand side and met by Joseph Rodriguez who gave Fieldhouse no chance, guiding the ball into the far-corner.

Turton’s lead lasted just seven minutes as Darwen found themselves on terms once again when Callum Gribben tapped home the rebound of Wilson-Heyes fierce effort to score his first goal for the Salmoners. 2-2 with twenty-eight minutes gone.

Turton had a chance to go back in front when Dom Farrimond got the better of Rhys Jones down the right-hand side – Farrimond cut inside and looked to curl one into the top left-hand corner but his effort was high and wide. Instead, it was Darwen – capitalising on Turton’s missed opportunities – who took the lead when Creech got in front of his man to meet Lewis Cumpsty’s inviting cross from the right-hand side with a clever finish. 3-2 to Darwen ten minutes before the interval.

Creech almost sealed a first-half hattrick moments later – his cross-goal effort from left of the area fell just wide of the far-post.

One last Darwen opportunity for the half came in the form of a long-range effort from Cumpsty that flew just over the crossbar.

HALF TIME: Darwen 3-2 Turton

Turton made the better start to the second half in much the same way they had to the first. A nice, free-flowing move culminated in a shot from the edge of the area that was well-saved by Fieldhouse. Moments later, Fieldhouse would have to be on hand again to prevent what would have been a calamitous own goal from Samuel Holt. As the half gradually wore on, however, Darwen tightened their grip on the contest and Turton opportunities became fewer and further between. The trialist almost made it 4-2 when he failed to turn home a cross come shot from Creech.

Both teams had fair penalty appeals in quick succession – both of which were waved away by referee, Bob Richards.

Darwen really started to pile on the pressure in the last twenty minutes. Substitute Yann Daryll’s offside effort came hit the upright before Creech poked home his third of the afternoon to give Darwen a two-goal cushion five minutes from time. Two minutes later, Darwen had a fifth – a case of scorer turns provider as Creech – who could so easily have added a fourth to his tally for the afternoon – squared it to the trialist, who was left with the simplest of tasks of side-footing the ball into an empty net as the Turton keeper scurried in vain to stop him. 5-2.

FULL TIME: Darwen 5-2 Turton

A show of resilience in the first-half coupled with an all-round impressive second-half performance will surely give the Salmoners reason to be optimistic as they head into Saturday’s ‘curtain-opening’ clash against South Liverpool.

Attendance: 109

Man of the Match: Leon Creech

Honourable mention: Lewis Cumpsty.

Everyone at AFC Darwen wishes Turton all the best for the upcoming West Lancashire League season.