ROB YOUHILL says he holds no hard feelings towards Darlington after leaving the club yesterday, but admitted to feeling frustrated at not forcing his way into the first-team reckoning.

Just six months since moving from Harrogate RA, the winger has dropped down a level to sign for Shaw Lane Aquaforce, a Barnsley-based club in the Evo-Stik Division One South, leaving Quakers having had his contract cancelled after playing only 12 games.

Seven of those appearances came as a substitute, manager Martin Gray instead preferring Stephen Thompson and Adam Mitchell to play on the wings.

“I’d liked to have stayed at Darlington, and I feel as though I took my chance, but Martin didn’t feel that way and that’s fine, that’s why he has the big job and makes those decisions,” said Youhill.

“There’s no hard feelings. I’m old enough to accept it now. If I was 21 I’d be worried why he didn’t like me. My friends and parents have been asking about it, asking why doesn’t he want you, but that’s football, it’s what happens and I’m not going to worry about it. He doesn’t like me but somebody else will.

“My strengths weren’t high on his agenda. He likes people that work hard defensively, and I’m maybe the other side of that coin.”

He was transfer-listed last week, two days after impressing during Darlington’s League Cup win at Blyth, while he was man of the match in the previous game, an FA Trophy win over Mossley.

Youhill’s summer arrival was viewed as a coup, and many supporters have been saddened by his departure.

The first of his three league starts saw him score from outside the penalty area in a 3-0 win at Ramsbottom United in late September, his debut having been delayed after sustaining a dislocated elbow in pre-season.

He said: “I scored in that first game, then we played Skelmersdale and then Marine and none of us played well and I got dropped from then on. The injury was maybe another reason I struggled to get a place.

“Mitch and Tommo have been playing really well so for me to get into the team those would had to have a drop in performance. I guess in some people’s opinion they didn’t really, but football is all about opinions which is why it is so interesting I guess.

“It’s frustrating. I thought I’d played well in the games I did play, but maybe I just didn’t figure in Martin’s plans, which is fair enough.

“When you’re out of the team you’re thinking ‘right, I’ll keep fit, I’ll work hard’, so that when you do get your chance you’ll be able to take it. I did feel, and this is my opinion, that I did take it, but I didn’t figure in Martin’s plans.

“He was quite honest with me at the beginning and told me the areas he wanted me to work on. I felt like I did that, but then new signings came in and people came back from injury and suspension. Maybe I didn’t prove myself enough in those two games [Blyth and Mossley].

“Everyone was looking at the squad and wondering who was he going to leave out? And then I got a phone call last Thursday morning. It was a tough one to take.”

The call came the morning after Youhill had spoken at a fans forum, and he added: “The short time I spent at Darlington I’ve really enjoyed. I enjoyed the way the fans took to me.

“Someone said at the fans’ forum that the Darlo fans expect a lot, and I feel as though I tried as much as I could to impress them, impress Martin and work hard for the club.

“The support that Darlington has is crazy. I really wanted to get my teeth into it and impress them, so it’s a tough one really. I’m looking forward to a new challenge.”

Aquaforce are second in the table having won promotion last season. Youhill was one of two wingers they recruited yesterday as they also signed Phil Dean, formerly of Ramsbottom United and Salford City.

Youhill added: “There were rumours that Phil Dean was coming to Darlington, so at the time I was thinking that he was going to sign and I was going to go out, but as it’s turned out we’re potentially going to be in the same team playing on opposite wings. It’s strange how things work out.

“I’m looking forward to playing in a team that are really attacking and will play to my strengths. The manager, Craig Elliott, said he’s ‘not signing a player to make him into something else’, he said he wants to put a square peg into a square hole. So in many respects I’m looking forward to that.”

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