Darlaston fail to make numerical superiority count

Aaron Bishop’s 40-yard lob had Darlo on the front foot 21 minutes into an even first half but Liam Murphy restored parity on the half-hour with a crisp left-footed strike across goal.

The Mikes went down to 10 men when Dan Gyasi had a moment of madness on the hour, needlessly swiping at the legs of Harry Chesterton to receive his marching orders.

Darlo passed up good chances from there, Kieran Miller failing to convert from inside the six-yard box and Bishop getting caught just behind a deflected centre.

The Mikes smacked the bar through substitute Kevin Ngombi late on, while Rivel Mardenborough also hit the frame of the goal with a cross-shot as time ebbed away.

Walsall Wood let slip a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 at Sporting Khalsa, Jack Fletcher and Nick Clayton-Phillips seeing their efforts cancelled out early in the second half by Sean Williams and Andre Landell.

Toothless Lye Town made it five defeats in a row by slipping to a 2-0 defeat at Worcester City.

The high-flying hosts were always in control but struggled to make an impression during a first half in which Craig Nicholls’s side proved stubborn opponents without creating much, Justice Campbell curling wide after 10 minutes.

Lye keeper Matt Hill raced out to save one-on-one after Liam Lockett had been played in behind and then produced a full-stretch stop from Kyle Belmonte five minutes before half-time only for Elliott Keightley to slam in the rebound.

City should have doubled the lead early in the second half when Nathan Hayward scuffed straight at Hill but Lye’s hopes were dealt a huge blow when anchorman Lewis Wright went off injured on the hour.

That proved telling in the second goal as Jordan Lymn pounced on passing out from the back to guide into the run of substitute Izak Reid who just beat Hill to the through ball to nudge inside the near post on the run to end the contest with 66 minutes on the clock.