Darlaston went down to ten men in the first half after Aaron Bishop was shown a straight red card after a late challenge on Jayden Cotterill in the 41st minute.

James Shaw bagged the first goal for the Blues in the 56th minute before Evan Garnett marked his return from injury with a goal in the 74th minute, ultimately securing the three points for us.

Darlaston lost another man in the 90+4th minute as Alexander Foreshaw was shown a red card.

We remain in third position, and have created a ten-point gap between ourselves and Sporting Khalsa who sit sixth outside the play-off spots.

Brad named an unchanged side to the one that beat Sutton Coldfield Town 2-0 last Saturday.

The referee blew his whistle for the first time and the boys were underway on National Non-League Day.

Lewis King was called into action a couple of times within the first few minutes of the game. The first one he blocked an effort from close range and the second one he came out to stop a one-on-one. Our keeper.

After his goal last weekend, Owen Betts fancied his chances from 30-yards in the eighth minute and it was nearly a worldie. His thunderous strike hit the bar and was so close to tucking into the top right corner.

Liam Loughlan came close in the 25th minute. A great cross into the box by James Taylor found Loughlan whose header just went over the bar and onto the roof of the net.

Ryan Campbell-Gordon was awarded a yellow card in the 41st minute after a coming together with Darlaston’s Mitch Botfield.

Seconds later, Darlaston were down to ten men. Aaron Bishop committed a high and dangerous challenge on Jayden Cotterill. Jayden required some medical attention and was soon back on the pitch performing at his top level.

It was all square at the break. Both sides were still finding a way to break the deadlock, however, the Blues had the man advantage heading into the second half.

A change was made at half-time. We welcomed back Evan Garnett as he retuned from injury after a few weeks on the sidelines. Evan replaced Tristan Thompson Matthews.

We took the lead in the 56th minute and it was James Shaw with a finish that is right up there with the best we have seen down at the Family Only Stadium this season. James cut inside onto his favoured right foot and whipped the ball onto the inside of the right post and it found itself in the back of the net. Stan Amos had no chance of saving that one.

Only a couple of minutes after we nearly had our second. Betts hit the ball on the volley and forced a save from Amos, Evan was there for the rebound, however, he failed to keep his effort down.

We did double the lead in the 74th minute and it was the returning Garnett with the goal. A perfect ball into the box by Campbell-Gordon found Garnett in the box and he headed it past Amos. Evan is back doing what he does best, bagging goals.

The match ended in a confusing manner as Alexander Foreshaw was sent off for the visitors in the 4th minute of injury time. A long wait for the referee to discuss the affair with the linesman, however, their conclusion of the matter was to award Foreshaw a red. Darlaston finished the match with nine men.

The match came to an end and it is now eight wins on the bounce for Long Eaton and our fourth consecutive clean sheet.

The Blues are back in action next Saturday when we travel to Rugby Town. We will be hunting down that ninth win in a row.

And finally we would like to share the love to all the home supporters there today. There were 318 fans at the Family Only Stadium for the match and we would like to say a massive thank you! Your support means the world.

Team lineup: Lewis King, Owen Betts, Gianluca Bucci, Jayden Cotterill, Ryan Campbell-Gordon, Andrew Wright (Jamie Hanson, 88’), Connor Pace, Tristan Thompson Matthews (Evan Garnett, 46’), Liam Loughlan, James Shaw (Dexter Walters, 79’) James Taylor. Bench: Aaron Cole, Omotolani Omotola

Match Report: Sam Hargrave
Match Highlights: Sam Hargrave
Match Photos: Richard Gadsby