Silsden AFC 0 AFC Darwen 2

SILSDEN were a pale shadow of the side that defeated second-placed Barnoldswick Town just a week ago.

Suspensions to Chris Wademan and Matt Moses, an injury to AaronHollindrake and the unavailability of Nettleton meant a reshuffle for the team for Tuesday night's game.

Martin Broderick moved to right back and Will Storrie came in to lead the attack. Neither looked comfortable in their roles.

The game didn't start well for the Cobbydalers. In the first minute Oliver Birchall hit the bar from Conor Gaul's cross, but three minutes later the visitors were ahead when Daniel Taylor latched onto a long ball over the Silsden back four to slide the ball home.

A minute later Craig Nicholls outpaced three defenders but Ben Proctor made a great save. The ball came out but evaded both Storrie and Talent Ndlovu. It was the closest the Cobbydalers would come to scoring.

Ndlovu was a persistent menace in midfield but his colleagues were unable to make the most of his passes. .

Storrie and Joe Mitchell played a neat one-two down the left but Storrie tried to score from a narrow angle when he had team-mates in better positions.

It seemed to sum up his decision making the whole game although, to be fair, he was being asked to do a job which didn't suit him.

At the other end Danny Thorpe denied Gaul at the expense of a corner and Lee Guilfoyle twice got the better of Taylor in one-on-one situations. Kevin Ryan saw his header deflected into the keepers arms from a rare corner kick.

Joe Jalil replaced Nicholls at the break which further reduced Silsden's goal threat. Lee Guilfoyle made an error at the back but Thorpe made an excellent save to keep the Cobbydalers in the game .

The managers gambled by putting Ryan up-front but he lacked support and the defence looked shakier.

Gaul netted a second goal on the hour when he broke through an open defence.

Ryan had one shot which was wide and it wasn't until the dying minutes that the Cobbydalers threatened to snatch a goal. Substitute Johnson Butterfield slipped the ball through to Ryan but his shot went just wide.

On Saturday the Cobbydalers entertain Daisy Hill before visiting Selby for a County Cup game on Tuesday.

SILSDEN AFC Thorpe, Broderick, Crabtree, Ryan, Guilfoyle, Mitchell, Howarth, Smith(Butterfield 58, Nicholls(Jalil 45), Storrie, Ndlovu(Dunne 68)

AFC DARWEN Proctor, Kennedy(A. Khan 70), Johnstone, Birchall, Douglas, J. Khan, Gaul(Wallace 86), Pegler, Taylor, Hepple(McKay 76), Lynch. Subs not used. McKenna, Windle.