AFC Darwen 1 Litherland REMYCA 1

A below par first half performance by the home side improved in the second period but Darwen’s third home win on the trot was thwarted by NWCL Division One debutant Litherland’s injury time equaliser.

Darwen nearly got off to a perfect start when Conor Gaul’s effort rebounded off the crossbar. And the home side had a great chance to take a lead in to the break when Bobby Langford fired a Steve Lee knock down wide.

In the second half, Danny Bank’s had an effort blocked and Langford again fired narrowly off target.

Darwen upped the tempo after the break and fnally made the breakthrough when Ryan Steele rose to head home from a corner With four minutes left Darwen should have made the game safe when Lee Turner set up Danny Banks, who only had to hit the target to score, but screwed his shot wide.

Lee Turner just failed to get his head onto a Tom Entwistle free kick with the goal gaping, and just into injury time the Darwen midfielder again failed to connect with brother Karl’s corner to settle the game.

The Salmoners came to regret missing all those chances as Litherland draw level in the fourth minute of injury time when Jack Abraham beat keeper Danny Fradd to the ball to score.