Defeat heightens Darwen concerns

Boss Dennis Hill may have picked the Darwen team for the last time

A second-half goal from Craig Wood earned AFC Blackpool their first win of 2009 as they beat troubled Darwen 1-0.

In a close-fought encounter, both sides spurned a number of good chances over the course of the game.

Before the game, all the focus had been on Darwen's impending legal battle, which will decide the future of the Vodkat League First Division club.

The hearing, which is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, could lead to them being wound up.

The publicity surrounding the club's plight led to the presence of a larger than average crowd and two television crews, and the Darwen players responded to the attention by producing the best goal-scoring opportunities of the first half.

On 14 minutes Paul Posteraro outpaced the Blackpool defence when chasing a through ball, but his angled shot was saved by keeper Jamie Cook.

Darwen spurned another good opportunity midway through the half when Liam McMillan played Lee Turner in on goal, but the striker blasted over from eight yards.

McMillan came close himself a few minutes later when AFC Blackpool keeper Cook could only push out his shot from the edge of the box, but when the ball was played back to him McMillan fired over from 20 yards.

Ten minutes from half time, Darwen were denied once more, this time when a Martin Parker effort was acrobatically hooked off the line by Blackpool centre-back Paul Carroll.

The opening stages of the second half produced plenty of endeavour, but few efforts on goal before AFC Blackpool broke the deadlock on the hour.

A clearance from a corner landed at the feet of Paul Carroll, and when he drove a low cross into the six yard box, Craig Wood pounced to fire a shot high into the roof of the net.

As the game wore on, play swung from end to end, and Liam McMillan twice came close for Darwen while Wood almost doubled AFC Blackpool's tally with a glancing header just over the bar.

With five minutes left, Darwen substitute Arron McCarthy almost grabbed an equaliser when he shot wide from close range after getting on the end of an Oliver Telford cross.

In stoppage time, a bizarre sequence of events saw Darwen reduced to nine men in the space of a few seconds.

When the referee awarded AFC Blackpool a free-kick on the edge of the Darwen penalty area, Martin Parker was shown a second yellow card for throwing the ball down and voicing his displeasure at the decision.

As Parker walked off the field, team-mate Chris Nuttall was then shown a straight red card for also making comments to the referee.