Yet another week of unrelenting rain meant a heavy and lifeless pitch, hardly conducive to pretty and flowing football, but a credit to the ground staff that it was on at all. Nevertheless there was no shortage of incident and controversy in a firey cup tie which saw Villa play for an hour and a quarter with ten men, and give a dogged and determined performance which saw them just edge out the Darwen side, though needing the advent of extra time in which to do so.

Things began in a very low key manner, hardly the kind of pace or frenzy often associated with a cup tie, but the aforementioned sluggish nature of the playing surface had much to do with that. David Heald sought to change that with a single handed campaign in which he tried to inject a bit of passion, but his only reward was an early sight of the yellow card with just thirteen minutes on the watch. Mark McDonnell immediately sent out the subs to warm up, and clearly thought about reacting to the Heald’s lack of perspicacity by taking him off, which with the benefit of 20:20 hindsight might have been a good idea.  Shortly after that though, Villa should have grabbed the opener. Elliot Dunn found Danial Hogg in the clear, and a bit more judicious placement would surely have seen him fire his side into the lead, but as it was, though the keeper got a good strong hand to it, in truth it was at a perfect height for him. Shortly afterwards, those watching from the stand were sure the visitors had indeed made the breakthrough with a header from a corner that looked from our angle to have gone in, but was wrong side of the post.  

Ten minutes from the interval however, Villa were able to open their account. A series of corners culminated in the ref pointing to the spot following a push in the back. Sam Bolton resumed his role as taker in chief and despatched with no mistake. A couple of minutes later Hogg again found good position, but lost his footing at the vital moment and the chance eluded him. 

Heald was winning everything in the air, and taking a fair bit of buffeting in the process. Increasingly frustrated at his perceived lack of protection, he effected a rash challenge and was subjected to the inevitable second yellow for his trouble, right on the half time whistle. 

The second half turned out to be a much more entertaining entity than the first. Darwen were obviously keen to make their man advantage count and turned up the heat, whilst the Villa lads rolled up their collective sleeves and upped the work rate to compensate.  Shaun Gibbs was the busier of the two keepers, but dealt comfortably with anything that came his way. And it was Villa who came closest during this spell when Gavin Cooper combined well with Hogg and Dunn to create a chance for Hogg, but though his header was right in the corner, the keeper somehow got a hand to it.  Relief was short lived however, as from the resultant corner, a well-worked routine allowed Hogg another chance from close range, and this time the keeper had no chance.  

Almost inevitably, the Euxton side found it hard to resist the temptation to sit ever deeper, and Darwen were able to enjoy their best spell of the match.  Fifteen minutes from time, with some of the Villa lads beginning to show signs of the effort they had put in, suddenly Darwen pulled one back with a well placed header from a corner, though he found himself with more than ample time and space in which to make sure his effort counted. Thus invigorated, Darwen found an extra yard of pace and carried the greater threat for the first time. Seven minutes later they fired themselves level with a superb shot from twenty-five yards, which Gibbs could do nothing about.

 The momentum should now have been undoubtedly with the home side, but in fact it was Villa who redoubled their effort, and came very close to settling the tie in normal time. Hogg and Dunn again combined to bring the best out of the keeper, and Ryan Lilley had an effort cleared off the line with the keeper beaten, after good work by Matt Atherton. 

Right on full time, Villa thought they had snatched it when the ball was poked home after a goalmouth scramble, but although the ref, who al-in-all had had a good game, appeared satisfied, his stand-side assistant, of whom the same could not be said, imagined an infringement and the goal was duly chalked off.  Injury time almost heralded disaster for the visitors when a Darwen header flashed wide with the goal gaping. 

And so to extra time, and the Villa fans feared the worst, as tired legs grew ever heavier. However, their fears proved groundless as every player dug deep to squeeze the last drop of energy they could muster, and it was they who now clearly held sway.  Lee Chambers should have scored with a stooping header from a Cooper free kick, but narrowly missed the target. With Villa looking the more determined to settle things without resorting to the lottery of a shoot-out, pressure on the home defence was considerable. During one of the many attacks, the ball struck a hand, and the well-placed referee again pointed to the spot. A tad harsh perhaps, but Villa were not about to pass up the opportunity, and a very tired Atherton found enough in the tank to drive his side into the next round.

After such a noble team effort it almost seems churlish to single out individuals, but Danial Hogg’s afternoon’s work must merit special mention. From the moment Villa went down to ten men he ran his proverbials off for the cause, summoning up super human reserves of energy and enthusiasm which at times had we onlookers breathless on his behalf. Well done everybody!

Villa : Shaun Gibbs, Adam McAlister, Darren Davies Lee Chambers, Sam Bolton (Mark Swift 63), Dave Warburton (Gavin Cooper 60), Elliot Dunn, Matt Plano (Ryan Lilley 68), Matt Atherton, David Heald,  Danial Hogg