Darlington U18’s 5 Durham City U18’s 2

Match report by Gavin Farr

Darlington hosted 3rd placed Durham for our first game of 2018, the pitch was heavy and the lads knew it was going to be physical.

Darlington started well applying pressure from the front causing Durham to make mistakes one of which Luke Jenkinson picked up on and fired a 25 yard strike into the top corner. Any forward play by Durham was dealt with comfortably by our defence and midfield, from a free kick James Walker played a great ball into the box, nobody dealt with it and the ball ended up in the back of Durham’s goal 2-0. Alfie Thompson gave the Durham r/b a hard day and was rewarded with a great team goal 3-0 HT.

Fresh legs were added second half one of which was Adam Cullen (U17 player), making his mark early he added a 4th, a slight lapse allowed Durham to score and give them hope but all most immediately Darlington regained the advantage through Adam getting his second of the game.

A slip in the defence gave Durham their second but it was only a consolation.

A fantastic team performance under the conditions, Harry Hobbs, Dan Myers and Adam Cullen all from the Under 17’s squad played excellent showing great maturity against a strong Durham City team. Well done lads.

U14 DFC Quakers 5-1 South Shields

Match report by Steve Cotterill

Darlington started brightly but fell behind from their own corner after a quick break away from South Shields leaving Darlo exposed at the back in a 2 on 1 situation and a great finish from the striker. Darlo regrouped and went on to dominate the rest of the half. Connor Brown was very impressive going close on a couple of occasions but couldn't find the equaliser.

HT 0-1

Darlo came out firing on all cylinders and equalised straight from kick off. Great work by Ciaran Dixon found Sam Connolly who showed good composure to beat the keeper. Within a minute Sam made it 2-1 super finish after some great build up play. Soon it was three, a great corner from Ciaran Dixon, bullet header from Dan Bean. Darlo kept pressing and a great passage of play super ball in from Daniel Adok found Kia Wright to slot home. South Shields nearly pulled one back but a brilliant double block from Thomas Lea who was outstanding at the back prevented the goal.

Kia wright made it 5 for Darlo when he broke through the defence and finished well.

Man of the match Sam Connolly led the line well and got Darlo back into the game.

Darlington FC U10 draw away from home

Match report by Adam Willsher

A point from the first game in 2018, and a good base to build on.

Stand out performances came from Captain Ben Snowdon who as ever, had an outstanding game at the back.

Goalkeeper Luke James produced a fine goalkeeping display, making saves worthy of winning the game.

Ashton Newall provided much needed passion, energy and aggression in the centre of the pitch.

Manager Adam Willsher said- “the boys have worked hard over the Christmas period and deserved all three points today, but we’ll settle with one and look to build on today’s good performance in weeks to come”

Man of the match however went to Ben Furey. Before the game manager Adam told Ben he would score today, which he agreed. Moments later Darlington were 1 nil up and Ben was celebrating after scoring the opener. Ben has put a lot of effort in during the winter period and his performance today was very much deserved. Well done mate Ben.

Durham Soccarena 0 Darlington Quakers u15 9.

Match report by Stephen Luck

Darlo travelled away in the league to lowly Durham knowing a win might see them go top of the division. Darlington played some super stuff throughout the game and reverted back to a 4-3-3 formation as James Metcalf our left sided central defender was away on holiday. Darlington dominated the game throughout and won 9-0. Scorers were Dan Luck 1, Oscar Taylor 2, Toby Richardson 1, Coulby Shepherd 1, Luca Nelson 1, Nathan Walls 1, Jo Chisholm 2. A big plus for the day was seeing Oscar Luck (goalkeeper) play his first game in goal after missing the season so far through injury.

Guisborough Under 15 s 3 Darlington FC U15s Feethams 4

We travelled to Guisborough looking to make amends for a disappointing draw on the opening day of the season. On a bitterly cold day the game kicked off with Darlington taking the upper hand in terms of the early exchanges. Ten minutes in and they were rewarded for their superiority, Liam Wynn finding Bailey Proudlock with a well struck through ball. Bailey found himself at the edge of the box on the right hand side, glanced up and hit an inch perfect shot into the roof of the net.

The lads continued to force the majority of the play, snuffing out attacks from the home side before they became any real threat. Ten minutes in from the opening goal their lead was doubled, Liam Wynn again the provider, slotting through for Joe Hanson to run at the keeper one on one. Joe reached the ball, his touch taking it past the keeper, he ran the opposite side and fired the ball into the empty net.

With the two-goal advantage the lads seemingly sat back a little inviting a bit more pressure upon themselves. It was their undoing as their lead soon evaporated. First the defence failed to clear letting an attacker nip in and score and then a few minutes later Kenzie Alton was unable to keep the ball out, the attacker bearing down one on one and finishing with a well struck shot across his body. So, all was level as the whistle was blown to signal the end of the first half.

A couple of changes were made at half time, Dan Smith adding steel to the centre of midfield and Kieran Longstaff added on the left-hand side. Spencer Soakell benefited from the changes finding himself with more license to move forward giving the visitors a more balanced look about them. Darlington regained the lead when Ollie Johnson hassled the defender out of possession before Liam Wynn picked the ball up and beat the keeper with a smartly hit right footed shot from just inside the box.

They continued causing Guisborough problems with both Liam and Ollie going close with two efforts each. A fourth goal seemed likely, but it wasn’t until twenty-five minutes in when it materialised. Tom Horner found Spencer Soakell running through the centre and with the keeper rushing out to meet him Spencer calmly dinked the ball over the keeper’s head for a superbly measured lob.

Darlington looked for a fifth and Dan Smith came close from eight yards out but failed to keep his shot down, watching it sail over the crossbar. With five minutes remaining the hosts hit Darlo on the break to pull the deficit back to one. A nervous few minutes came to nothing leaving the lads to deservingly take the three points.

Man of the Match this week went to Spencer Soakell, battling in the first half and then showing his attacking prowess in the second. Notable performances from Alex Mason at centre half and Liam Wynn up top.

While overall maybe a slightly below par performance, Darlington again stuck together, all fourteen players with something to offer. At the moment there is no fixture next week, giving a couple of players carrying knocks etc to recover fully.

MoM: Spencer Soakell

Under 8s Feethams lose 4-0 away from home

Match report by Martin Williamson

Feethams first game in 2 and a half months and it showed. Nothing much to report but hopefully it has blown the cobwebs off and let’s build on that and get some game time under our belts. Well done boys on a bitter morning which wasn’t much fun for anyone.

Still only 3 defeats all season so let’s kick on boys and go again.