DARLO DIARY: An excellent point against opposition in white hot form

On Saturday, that’s what we unashamedly did. Having secured a win at Ashton United on Tuesday despite not always having a foothold in the game, Saturday saw us take an excellent point from a match that saw near-one-way traffic heading towards Peter Jameson’s goal.

Before the game, you felt a perfect storm was heading for Heritage Park. Two key defenders suspended, another defender appearing to have left the club and an opposition in white hot form both in the league and cup.

Darlington 1 Stourbridge 1 photo gallery

Throw in the pre-match injury to Kevin Burgess and the writing was on the wall. With Leon Scott having been excellent in the previous two away games, providing some much-needed steel in the midfield, having to move him in to the defence felt like a double blow.

Despite all of that, we flew out of the blocks. Stephen Thompson’s goal was a corker. So often, our talismanic winger gets in to a good position but can’t find the much needed composure. Not on Saturday.

Sadly, our flying start didn’t last long. At least we had the goal to defend. As the onslaught began, it became apparent that Jameson was going to have a busy afternoon. Despite being beaten once, this was Jameson’s best game since we beat Spennymoor in the league last season. Time and time again, the Darlo stopper thwarted our Black Country guests, ably assisted by Scott’s ridiculous last-ditch tackle on Karl Hawley.

With a patchwork defence in front of Jameson, some of the shaky defending was understandable. However, the four chosen defenders at times were left high and dry, sometimes from the outstanding football from Stourbridge and sometimes due to the poor play from their colleagues. Our midfield, which I have been critical of this season due to their defensive fragility, didn’t always provide the cover their defence required or deserved. Likewise, for long spells, we were very sloppy in possession which brought more pressure on our defence.

Notwithstanding the above, Stourbridge were excellent. Big, fast, good movement and some genuinely quality players, you can see why they’re up at the top end of the league and still in the FA Cup. In particular, their front two of Karl Hawley and Justin Richards caused us no end of problems.

Hawley in particular looked a cut above. His performance reminded me Danny Webber’s for Salford at Heritage Park last season. His movement and power was too much to handle at times. He took his goal well although I would imagine he’d be disappointed that he didn’t get more.

Another player who stood out was left back Brian Smikle. He was outstanding. Nothing got past him and considering he wasn’t massive, he won everything in the air.

A point gained, we move on. With defenders being thin on the ground, Chris Hunter’s return from suspension is massive. If the defence is going to be a composite of midfielders and defenders for the foreseeable future, some thought needs to be given as to how the players in front of them line up to provide some protection. Martin Gray moved his wingers in to the centre of the park towards the end of the game and I think against a decent Workington side, he might want to consider that from the off.

Hopefully, taking the positives from the past couple of games, we can utilise some of the resolve shown to get over the line and secure a much needed home win.