Darlington 3 Buxton 1

DARLINGTON demonstrated their strength at set-pieces during a terrific second-half performance to claim a victory which narrows the gap on the pacesetters at the top of the division with a 3-1 win over Buxton.

They trailed 1-0 early in the second period, but swiftly regained control with Terry Galbraith’s dead-ball deliveries key to Quakers’ first two goals, before the left-back added a third following his own corner.

His influence ensured Darlington emerged worthy winners, stretching their unbeaten run to six games.

Five of those matches have been victories, last night’s at Heritage Park seeing Quakers haul themselves up to fourth, 11 points behind leaders Blyth Spartans, who lost a crunch encounter 2-0 to second-top Workington, with four games in hand.

They will play those matches in hand over the coming midweeks during a demanding schedule, but there will be few complaints if they are to churn out more performances at the level of last night’s second half.

Lee Gaskell and Nathan Cartman were also on the scoresheet, and assistant manager Brian Atkinson was pleased with the team’s showing.

“It was a good performance and another three points, so we’re looking forward to Saturday already,” said Atkinson.

“We started really well in the first half, but Buxton had the best chance in the first half when they broke on us, but I think we deserved the three points overall.

“We upped the tempo a little bit. We pushed the full-backs on, got into their half and scored some good goals.

“Our set-pieces have been great for the last two or three years. Terry’s quality is good, and so is Adam Mitchell’s.

“We’re taking it game by game, hopefully we’ll get another three points on Saturday.”

The weekend’s game is against Skelmersdale, followed in midweek by Matlock visiting Heritage Park, and Darlington will hope to repeat last night, although they almost found themselves a goal down early on.

Buxton’s lone striker Liam Hardy looked likely to make it 1-0 when he dribbled around Peter Jameson in the penalty area after exploiting space in the middle of Darlington’s defence after a through-ball, but Chris Hunter managed to retreat deep enough to make a goal-line clearance.

In the goalmouth scramble which followed, Buxton hit the bar and also saw a shot blocked, Quakers’ last-ditch defending keeping it scoreless.

It proved to be the best chance of the half, although Quakers’ Stephen Thompson was unfortunate not to score on a handful of occasions, frequently firing in shots at goal.

He dribbled from the centre-circle to the edge of the penalty area, where his low shot was saved comfortably.

Goalkeeper Myles Wright needed two attempts to catch another Thompson try, and he then hit the base of the post after a shot on the turn 25 yards out.

The Northern Echo:

Darlington had shaded the half, although Buxton had strong appeals for a penalty turned down when Jameson clattered Hardy when competing for a high ball.

Buxton did go ahead, however, four minutes into the second half with the first of the game’s four goals and it was a fine strike by Liam Hardy.

The forward intercepted Leon Scott’s weak header and lobbed Jameson from distance.

But the lead did not last long.

Within four minutes Darlington level. After a Galbraith corner, Gary Brown played ball back into danger area, Cartman had a shot cleared, leaving Gaskell to tuck home the loose ball.

Darlington were suddenly making more headway, being more of a threat to Buxton who looked a shadow of the first half display, and within ten minutes they led, again Galbraith involved.

His free-kick from wide on the right, won by Cartman, was headed home by the Darlington striker, the smallest man on the pitch rising highest, to score his tenth league strike of the season.

With Buxton reeling, Darlington looked good for a third goal.

Brown put a header on top of the net after a Galbraith corner, and while Thompson’s goal quest continued, he still could not find the net.

A dribble from just inside opposition half led to another save by Wright, but it was not long before the keeper was beaten for a third time, this time Galbraith grabbing the glory for himself.

Substitute David Dowson, with his first touch after replacing Cartman, won a corner. Taken by Galbraith, the ball returned to the left-back who rifled it into the far side of the net to complete the victory.

“Nathan scores a lot of goals with his head, he always seems to be in the right place at the right time,” added Atkinson.

“And you know what Terry is like, when he gets an opportunity like that he is going to score.”

Goals: Hardy (49, 0-1); Gaskell (53, 1-1), Cartman (62, 2-1), Galbraith (83, 3-1)

Bookings: Belezika (52, foul)

Referee: John Matthews (Stockton) 7

Attendance: 857

Entertainment: ***

Darlington (4-4-2): Jameson; Hunter, Brown, Burgess, Galbraith; Mitchell (Portas 84), Scott, Turnbull, Thompson; Gaskell (Armstrong 86), Cartman (Dowson 80). Subs (not used): Provett (gk), Nowakowski

Buxton (4-5-1): Wright; Belezika (Hedley 74), J Bembo-Lita, Young, Green; Taylor, Harris, Ravenhill, Wiles (Barraclough 74), Doran; Hardy. Subs (not used): Grayson, Doyle, F Bembo-Lita

The Northern Echo: