Football
Darlington FC in January by Chris Sykes
Darlington fans could've been forgiven for thinking here we go again. Consecutive defeats to MK Dons and Rochdale had threatened to undo months of hard work and derail Darlington's promotion bid. To counter this, manager Dave Penney used the January transfer window to change his squad. Midfielders Kevin McBride and Xavier Barrau both left. Ian Miller's loan move from Ipswich became permanent, Richie Foran's loan move from Southend was extended to the end of the season and left back Paul Mayo joined on an initial 1 month loan from Notts County. But perhaps the most intriguing move was Ryan Valentine rejoining the Quakers from Wrexham. With the changes made, Darlington's next task was to return to winning ways.
Darlington's first home game of 2008 came after an 11-day break. The Quakers were scheduled to play Barnet away on the 5th, but the Bees FA Cup exploits meant that Darlington had an extra weekend off. Therefore, Darlington hosted Bury on the 12th January refreshed and revitalised. However, Bury were up for a challenge and pushed Darlington hard early on. It did though only take 12 minutes for Darlington to break the deadlock. Richie Foran received the ball on the left, before playing in a low cross, which was superbly volleyed home by Tommy Wright. Bury looked for an instant response, with Nicky Adams forcing a fine save from Quakers keeper David Stockdale just 60 seconds after the restart. Darlington doubled their advantage 10 minutes later. Clark Keltie floated in a corner, which was met by the head of Ian Miller who nodded in Darlington's 2nd of the afternoon. The points were made safe midway through the 2nd half when Paul Mayo found space to turn and shoot in the box, beating Bury keeper Jim Provett at his near post. Darlington easily closed the game to record a comfortable yet important first win of 2008.
After a relatively simple win, the Quakers next travelled to play off chasing Morecambe the following Tuesday to replay the fixture which had been abandoned due to torrential rain. For the first 25 minutes, the Quakers seemed content to sit back and soak up Morecambe pressure. Then, a Morecambe attack was broken up by Neil Austin and Darlington launched a rapid counter attack. There 5 Quakers on just 2 Morecambe defenders. Pawel Abbott received the ball and had a shot. The effort was saved, but only parried into the path of Austin, who poked home the opener. Exactly the same happened on 62 minutes. A Morecambe attack was broken up and Darlo broke down field, this time only 2 Quakers against 4 defenders. Somehow, Gregg Blundell squeezed a pass through to Joachim, who drove Darlington's 2nd. 5 minutes later, Joachim turned provider, crossing to Blundell who was in acres of space. Blundell neatly finished as Darlington wrapped back-to-back 3-0 wins. The scoreline flattered Darlington, but this magnificent display of counter attacking football meant that the Quakers closed the gap on the top 3.
Following the trip to Morecambe, Darlington faced Mansfield away. Mansfield are fighting to remain in League 2, so this game was a completely different to the trip to highflying Morecambe. This was also Darlington's 3rd game in a week, and they were clearly feeling the effects. The game was tight without a great deal of chances. The games turning point came on the half hour mark. Darlington won a corner, which was swung in by Mayo. Ian Miller went down, seemingly tripped by a Mansfield defender. A penalty was awarded, much to the disgust of Mansfield's players and fans. Richie Foran coolly dispatched the spot kick. There was a scare for Darlington towards the end of the first half when Steve Foster almost lobbed David Stockdale. Stockdale reached and caught the ball, but conceded an indirect free kick in the process. The resulting set piece was blocked by Foster. In the 2nd half, Dave Penney brought on Valentine to make his debut. He, along with fellow substitute Keltie, injected more pace into the game. But it was Mansfield who nearly stole a late equaliser when Michael Boulding headed over from 6 yards. The Quakers held on to secure a 3rd straight win, which lifted them into the automatic promotion spots.
After 2 straight away games came 2 consecutive home games, starting with the visit of Macclesfield. A repeat of last year's 4-0 triumph over Macclesfield looked on the cards when Tommy Wright headed in Clark Keltie's corner. That goal took Wright to double figures for the season. From then on, Darlington eased off. They were made to pay on the hour mark when, despite a hint of offside, Martin Gritton raced away and slotted home the equaliser from 11 yards. 4 minutes later, Macclesfield took a shock lead when slack marking allowed Ryan Cresswell to head them in front. That goal woke Darlington up and they managed to force the equaliser on 72 minutes. A long Paul Mayo throw was inadvertently turned into his own net by Cresswell. The final score was 2-2, and Darlington can consider themselves fortunate to get that.
Prior to Darlington's 2nd Tuesday night game of the month, at home to Accrington Stanley, Dave Penney reinforced the striking department. Kevin Gall joined on loan from Carlisle and Guylain Ndumbu-Nsungu rejoined on a free transfer from Gillingham.
On the 50th anniversary of Darlington's greatest results, a 4-1 FA Cup win over Chelsea, Darlington got the golden jubilee celebrations off to a flying start. An early Accrington move came to nothing. The ball was punted forward. New loan signing Kevin Gall latched onto the ball and crashed a shot against the bar, but Tommy Wright was following up to head in his 11th goal of the season. All this after just 30 seconds. A goal before most fans had sat down should've seen Darlington push on and try to grab more goals. Instead, it was Stanley who had the better chances in the rest of the 1st half. Mark King forced a splendid save from David Stockdale in their best effort of the opening 45 minutes. The 2nd half saw Darlington work a couple of opportunities, Micky Cummins turning a Joachim cross wide was Darlington's greatest chance of the 2nd half. A late Ian Craney shot which went just wide for Accrington had Darlington fans worried, but the very early goal was enough for Darlington to claim all 3 points. The 1-0 win wasn't impressive, but it was important to keep up the pressure on leaders MK Dons.
5 games unbeaten, a new contract for manager Dave Penney and 2nd place in the league, Darlington fans are starting to believe. A new goalkeeper, Pryzemyslaw Kazimierczak, joined from Bolton on transfer deadline day to act as cover for Stockdale with Andy Oakes out for the season. Not only are Darlington well and truly in the promotion hunt, a title charge may be on the cards. The Quakers trail MK Dons, but they have 2 games in hand. The Darlington fans, who have been frustrated for so long, are starting to think that this season is the season where all the pain and misery finally ends. They would need to keep up their promotion form in February.
10:08am Monday 25th February 2008
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