Darwen retain Vizzard Memorial Trophy to round-off pre-season
Darwen retained the Vizzard Memorial Trophy on Saturday afternoon with a comfortable 2-0 win over local West Lancashire League side Turton.
After a goalless first half in which – it has to be said – Darwen were much the better team, Rio Wilson-Heyes and skipper Nathan Bond netted the goals that The Salmoners’ performance deserved in the second period.
Turton got the game underway.
Darwen made a good start, looking fairly at ease on the ball in the opening minutes.
Salmoners captain Nathan Bond came close to connecting with a whipped Wilson-Heyes free-kick from the left-hand side.
Turton’s number 7 Tom McKee had the visitors’ best chance of the first 20 minutes, but he could only volley high and wide, however.
Darwen put a really nice move together in the 22nd minute when Martin Middlehurst played a diagonal out to Gary Basterfield on the left-hand flank and the full-back found Joe Almond in the area. After trying to find the half a yard he needed to get a shot away, Almond’s effort was blocked.
As the half wore on, The Reds began to assert some authority over proceedings, with the front three of Wilson-Heyes, Almond and Carmichael looking to probe the Turton backline.
Darwen should have taken the lead in the 32nd minute when Basterfield played a nice ball down the left which found Wilson-Heyes – the winger beat his man and crossed to Clayton Gorman, the latter miscued his effort from about 8 yards out.
Moments later, Almond hit the side-netting with a stab at the front post.
A short Darwen corner in the 38th minute almost resulted in the opening goal, unfortunately for The Salmoners, Carmichael’s powerful close-range header was somehow blocked on the line.
With not long to go before half time, things opened up nicely for Wilson-Heyes to have a pop from distance. Darwen’s number 10 saw his effort fly over the bar. This turned out to be the last action of the half.
HALF TIME: DARWEN 0-0 TURTON
SECOND HALF
The Salmoners got the second 45 underway, kicking towards the new stand.
The second half started in exactly the same manner in which the same way ended, with Darwen dominating possession and looking to break the deadlock.
Joe Almond was unlucky not to when he was found in the area by Wilson-Heyes. Darwen’s number 9 couldn’t quite get the ball out of his feet in time to divert the ball home.
In the 51st minute, Wilson-Heyes put Kenny Langford’s men ahead, tapping the ball home at the back, left-hand post after being found completely unmarked by Clayton Gorman. 1-0.
Seconds later, it was almost two when a loose ball almost nestled in the bottom left-hand corner.
With 65 minutes on the clock, Carmichael forced a good save out of Turton keeper Josh McGreavy at his near post.
A couple of minutes later, Darwen had a great opportunity to double their advantage. Joe Almond closed in on goal down the left-hand side and his low, cross-goal shot rolled narrowly wide of the right-hand post.
Turton’s best and only real clear-cut chance of the entire contest fell to Harvey Brooks with about 20 minutes to go.
The away side’s number 3 couldn’t beat Lenny Fieldhouse from close-range as Darwen’s stopper turned Brooks’ effort on to the crossbar. The score remained 1-0.
After Brooks’ chance the game entered a fairly quiet and uneventful spell.
With just seconds to go, Darwen took advantage of what looked to be a tiring Turton side by adding a second goal. Middlehurst found Bond who dispatched into the bottom right-hand corner with confidence. 2-0.
FULL TIME: DARWEN 2-0 TURTON
The referee blew the full-time whistle, bringing to an end a good workout for Kenny Langford’s men and confirming Darwen’s retention of the Vizzard Memorial Trophy.
ATT: 83
THE TEAMS
DARWEN
STARTING XI
1. Lenny Fieldhouse
2. Josh Aspinall
3. Gary Basterfield
4. Chris Lynch
5. Rocco Carnovale
6. Martin Middlehurst
7. Nathan Bond ©
8. Clayton Gorman
9. Joe Almond
10. Rio Wilson-Heyes
11. Alfie Carmichael
SUBSTITUTES
12. David Lang
14. Lewis (Trialist)
15. Osagie Agahahowa
16. Charlie Egan
17. Josh Wearden
18. Luke McKenna
TURTON
STARTING XI
1. Josh McGreavy
2. Scott Fitzsimmons
3. Harvey Brooks
4. Jamie Wellsby
5. Chris Morris
6. Sam Crook
7. Tom McKee
8. Tyler McCarthy
9. Luke Bradbury
10. Sam Rigby
11. Jack Burke
SUBSTITUTES
12. Danny Rigby
13. Callum Higson
14. Jack Towers
15. Cole Exley
16. Brad Hennifer
Lewis On Sport 
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