DARLINGTON snatched defeat from the jaws of a decent draw on Tuesday in the torrential rain at Workington. Having weathered the storm both on and off the pitch, we were looking good for a point, but one misplaced pass and a quality finish saw us return over the A66 with nothing.

Darlo once again found themselves going behind early on. We were a little unlucky that the shot took a nasty deflection, but it would appear that the lack of early concentration away from home has come up with us from Division One North.

Had Darlo not equalised immediately, I suspect it would have been a very long night. Graeme Armstrong once again belittled his traumatic summer to rise above the Workington defence to head home. Where would we be without him?

Workington look like a good side. Unlike the other teams faced to date, they weren’t physically massive and were committed to passing the ball on the ground. Armstrong’s equaliser didn’t appear to knock the wind out of their sails with the hosts having a number of chances to regain the lead in the first half.

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In the second half, I liked the look of new signing Anthony Bell. He clearly likes to get his head down and run with the ball, something that Stephen Thompson seems less willing to do these days. I thought he looked a bit leggy towards the end of the game, but having spent all summer chasing a pro deal, I’d guess he hasn’t had much of a pre-season.

The second half was frustrating. You don’t expect a side to tire at this level, but Workington appeared to be feeling the pace. They weren’t closing the ball down as well and their defensive line was starting to sag. They had a couple of counter attacks but ultimately, their threat had diminished and it was Darlo getting on top.

Cue a sloppy pass, lack of midfield tracking and a quality assist and finish. With a number of players committed up field sensing Workington were there for the taking, we were wide open for the decisive break. Whilst I can’t take anything away from the two Workington players involved, I was disappointed that our midfield didn’t track the goal scorer. They got back in time but left Conor Tinnion unmarked, allowing him to do what he did.

Workington will be towards the top of the table when it matters. Their home form will be excellent, like it was last season. With that in mind, barring a moment of sloppiness, this was a decent show from Darlo.

We could chalk the defeat down to it being a learning curve; however I’m not buying that. With the vast majority of the squad having played in this league or higher, there isn’t any learning to be done. With a scouting network that no other club in this division will have, we know everything about the opposition that we need to know. Cut out the silly defensive mistakes and we’ll be comfortable at this level.

Saturday sees us getting our passports out to make the trip to Colwyn Bay. The Bay have had a mixed start although showed their quality coming from 2-0 down to earn a draw at Salford City.

On Saturday, I’m hoping Darlo show more concentration defensively, particularly early on. First and foremost, let’s keep it tight at the back and then see what our attacking players can do. We need to rectify our defensive deficiency away from home before it becomes a real issue.