Darwen ripped off DARWEN's 100 per cent record was lost on a bobbly surface which made passing football an impossibility.

And the match was marred by controversy from the very first minute.

Manager Steve Wilkes was convinced his side had earned a penalty when Paul Baker's captain's armband was ripped off by Warrington's Ian McClelland in the area.

And Darwen never really recovered from the set-back as the home side took the lead on 30 minutes when Dave Tickle half-volleyed a Neil Holden cross from the right from close range.

Their lead was doubled five minutes later when Holden met another right-sided cross, only for Ken Tyrell to follow up on Lee Purvis' brilliant save.

Darwen pulled themselves back into the game on the stroke of half-time when Mark Walsh bent a free-kick around the wall. The same player was denied by a brilliant one-handed save before a full recovery was effectively thwarted when Matt Atkinson, who was about to be substituted, was sent off for pulling back a breaking forward -- but only five yards inside his own half.

Darwen felt the numbers should have been evened up when Andy Bright was kicked in the face on the ground.

But the game was put out of their reach when McClelland hit a long free-kick which evaded defenders and attackers and bounced into the goal, a carbon copy of David Beckham's recent goal against Ipswich.

Wilkes said: "They didn't get out of their own half for the first 30 minutes after the break.

"But the pitch was dreadful and they will be up there at the end."