IN a game of such importance you would have thought that the players who ply their trade for Darwen and Great Harwood Town on a Saturday afternoon would have been better prepared for this big match atmosphere.

But it was Old Toll Bar's young winger Ryan Clanford who stole the show with a display of skill, speed and a clinical scoring touch.

For the opening 25 minutes the 18-year-old wide man, in his first season with the club, was his side's only outlet as Darwen laid siege on Toll Bar's goal and should have scored at least three times.

The Alex men, full of players with Unibond and North Western Train experience, completely dominated the first quarter of the match and Neil Durkin was having a stormer.

But he was also guilty of the most glaring miss.

Having sprayed passes to all angles for strikers David Atkinson and Stephen Lynch to feed off, Durkin then had the chance to open the scoring. But after Atkinson's cross caused mayhem in the box, Durkin somehow managed to shoot straight at the defender standing on the line from barely eight yards out.

Michael Lynch was also guilty of two misses when he fired over when in good positions. All the time Toll Bar were struggling to get into their game and with Craig Andre ploughing a lonely furrow up front, most escape routes came through Clanford whose lightning breakaway attacks made sure Darwen's defence was always on the back foot.

Now when you create so many chances and fail to take advantage of a single one, football has a habit of hitting you where it hurts most. And in one rare Toll Bar attack, the referee seemed to be the only person to notice a handball and awarded a penalty.

Andre, who had not had a single shot on target up to that point, made no mistake from the spot.

It was a real kick in the teeth for Darwen who must have thought the game was there for the taking. But Toll Bar had other ideas. Having realised they had got out of jail, the side grew in stature and it was Clanford who grabbed the all important second. Receiving the ball wide out on the right, Clanford surprised everyone, not least his own teammates, when he decided to head for goal rather than cross and his speed took him away from his marker to fire past Trevor Hanson.

Then came the game's most controversial moment when a Toll Bar defender handled the ball on the line and the referee awarded a penalty. A 21-man shoving, pushing and slanging match followed but it all counted for nothing as the linesman had spotted an earlier offside and the referee gave Toll Bar a free kick.

If they had not already realised, Darwen by now must have known it wasn't going to be their day.

Martin Pierce sealed their fate soon after the re-start with a real belter of a goal. Having robbed Lynch near the touchline, Pierce cut back inside and with little back lift hammered the ball past Hanson from outside the area.

Andre and Clanford, who had run themselves into the ground, were replacemented by Craig Foulds and Stephen McIntyre who combined to grab Toll Bar's fourth.

Normally used to starting a game, Foulds found it hard to find his touch coming off the bench but as the game went on he caused more and more danger around the box. He was unlucky with one effort which rattled the crossbar after he turned his marker on the edge of the area.

But in the next, and last move of the match, McIntyre broke down the right and he crossed into the path of Foulds who drove the ball home with a first time strike.

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