Kirkham and Wesham continued their renewed form on their travels with this 2-1 Second Round win over Darwen in the Division Two Trophy at the Anchor Ground on Tuesday night to stretch their winning sequence to four games and three on the road.
A goal behind in injury time in the first half to a goal by Darwen's Jon Stephenson, Kirkham piled on the pressure in the second 45 minutes and were rewarded 20 minutes from time when James Sheppard clipped in a loose ball after a quick throw in on the right by Nick Horne.
It proved to be the turning point in a match in which Kirkham strikers Andy Taylor and Mark Wane both squandered a series of chances.
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Sheppard's strike gave the visitors the tonic they were looking for and when Mike Clark side stepped three defenders five minutes from time to fire in the winner, Kirkham were on course for a quarter-final tie at home to Ashton Town at Kellamergh Park on Saturday February 2.
Boss Mick Fuller said later: "Considering the changes I made from Saturday's win in the Vase l thought we did well in the circumstances.
"It's a competition l feel we can win. Like Saturday, cup runs give the players something to look forward to."
The match saw the debut in defence of former Arsenal junior Paul Paynter, and with skipper Phil Thompson out with a heavy cold, long serving full-back Tony Keefe took over the captain's role - and with some gusto too in a man
of the match performance.
Rested after Saturday's two goal salvo on Tyneside, leading scorer, 16 goal Sean Paterson came on as a late substitute, while Matt Walwyn another of Saturday's goalscoring heroes from the north-east trip, hit a post late on as Kirkham finished in fine style to book their place in the last eight.
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