Hero Main lives the dream

As kids, football fans have all imagined a scenario whereby they became the match-winner, the hero of the hour with a crucial goal.

At 16-year-old some would describe Curtis Main as still being a kid, but he need dream no more as his late strike on Saturday made him a Darlington hero and earned another place in the record books.

Last May he became Quakers’ youngest-ever player when, aged 15, he made his debut at Peterborough.

Nine months on and the South Shields-born striker has become the club’s youngest ever goalscorer with Saturday’s 87th minute header that secured a victory which Darlington deserved but made hard work of.

They had been wasteful in front of goal, however all that was forgotten once Ricky Ravenhill sent over a rightwing cross and Main rose above Rob Atkinson to grab the winner with the deftest of touches.

He had been on the pitch only three minutes.

Ecstatic and stunned, Main raced away before being mobbed by delighted teammates, some of who are twice his age, as a sense of paternal pride enveloped the squad.

Craig Liddle, a Darlington veteran of over 300 appearances and now the club’s head of youth, said: “It made my day that it finished 1-0.

“If Curtis had scored and it had been 2-0 then that would have been good, but with Curtis coming off the bench and scoring the only goal almost straight away – it’s a bit of a fairytale.”

Thrilled Darlington supporters were soon chanting Main’s name, celebrating an unforgettable moment for a player who was still at school this time last year.

But manager Dave Penney is keen to prevent expectations rising too high and did not want him speaking to the media after the game.

Early this season Penney promoted Main from the youth team, where he felt the youngster’s progression would be stifled, and has since given him occasional appearances as a sub.

Penney said: “It’s great to see a young lad come through and I’m delighted he scored.

“We’ve just got to manage him right. He isn’t going to be coming off the bench and scoring every week. We’re going to be level-headed with him and let him develop.

“He doesn’t train or play with the kids anymore. He is developing and maturing. I think he is one of those lads that needs to be with the firstteam.

He’s past youth team level now and he’s coming on nicely, so he trains with the first-team, he has a good work ethic and he’s a good footballer.”

Ironically, Main is unlikely to have been on the bench had Pawel Abbott not been suffering from tonsillitis and had to pull out of the team on Saturday morning.

That meant a recall for Liam Hatch alongside Danny Carlton who will have been more relieved than anyone to see Main score after being guilty of a horrendous miss.

Carlton found the ball at his feet in space on the six yard line with an empty net in front of him. Following his winner over Rotherham in the previous home game, another match-winning moment awaited.

Then he rolled the ball the wrong side of the post. It had to be seen to be believed.

It was the best of a glut of chances Quakers wasted against lowly Grimsby who proved were stubborn opposition.

With Darlington’s defence in command and with a clean sheet the Mariners’ priority, rarely did Mike Newell’s side pose a threat to keeper Dean Gerken who has now conceded only twice in six games.

Former Quakers striker Adam Proudlock, well-shackled by Steve Foster and Alan White, saw little of the ball and was substituted, although he did try a speculative shot from 30 yards early on.

Penney said: “After the first five or ten minutes he had a shot which was great for him because he didn’t have very many when he was here.

“He’ll have been disappointed to have been subbed, not to have scored and not to have got a result against us.”

It was Proudlock’s chance to prove Penney wrong, and when the Mariners discovered Abbott was out it can only have inspired belief that they could stun Darlington.

Quakers missed Abbott’s ability, but they still had most of the possession and created the best chances.

Before the break both Franz Burgmeier and Jason Kennedy hit the woodwork from tight angles, and in the second half Kennedy saw an effort trickle narrowly wide from a good position.

Penney sent on forgotten man David Poole and Main in the hope of snatching a winner, but when Carlton missed an open goal following good work by Poole it looked like being two points dropped.

Until the moment arrived that Main will never forget and at the final whistle he left the field to a standing ovation after fulfilling just about every football fans’ fantasy.