First v Third at Heritage Park on Saturday

By Ray Simpson

First v Third at Heritage Park on Saturday

Darlington begin a run of home league games on Saturday, as they host third placed Stourbridge at He...

QR Darlo home shirt

Darlington begin a run of home league games on Saturday, as they host third placed Stourbridge at Heritage Park.

The Quakers returned to the top of the table in mid-week, as they completed two away wins in four days with a 2-1 success at Ashton United.

The win saw Darlington move ahead of Blyth Spartans and Stourbridge who had overtaken the Quakers just 24 hours earlier.

The club’s home match with Mickleover Sports has been brought forward to October 24th with neither side being in FA Cup action. This means Darlington will play three games in eight days at Heritage Park against Stourbridge, Workington and Mickleover.

Manager Martin Gray said; "This is the start of a very important run of home games for us, and we go into them in an excellent frame of mind after our last two away wins."

[caption id="attachment_14081" align="alignnone" width="300"]Graeme Armstrong scores a last minute winner at Ashton United Graeme Armstrong scores a last minute winner at Ashton United[/caption]

Stourbridge have had a fantastic start to the season in league and cup. Despite winning only one of their first four league games they have been on a great run since September. Of their last 13 games in all competitions they have won ten only losing once.

Part of this run has seen the club reach the final qualifying round of the FA Cup, their latest victory in the competition a 1-0 win against Rushall Olympic last weekend. In the next round they host a side which we have had many games with over the last two decades, Kidderminster Harriers. Stourbridge have had success in recent years in the competition, reaching the second round in the 2013/14 season before they were defeated by Stevenage.

Kick-off at Heritage Park on Saturday is 3pm.