Darlington beaten but unbowed (From The Northern Echo)

Darlington beaten but unbowed

8:08pm Saturday 21st January 2012 in Darlington FC Match Reports By Craig Stoddart, Deputy Sports Editor

Darlington were unable to cause an upset against Fleetwood Town today as they sank to a 1-0 defeat, but their supporters and players could hold their heads high after a memorable day for the club.

Three days after almost going out of business, supporters of clubs from around the country converged on the Arena in a mass show of support.

Representatives of Newcastle United, Sunderland, Middlesbrough and Hartlepool were in attendance, as were fans of clubs including Arsenal, Hamilton, Liverpool, Manchester City, Rangers and Southampton plus many others.

They swelled the attendance to 5,638 – the average this season has been less than 2,000.

The large attendance is a boost to keep the club alive, while a bucket collection held by the Darlington Supporters' Club raised an impressive £8,050.

Kick-off was delayed, but when the teams emerged just before 3.15pm Darlington received a great reception as they entered the field, the bumper crowd getting behind the team after what’s been a traumatic week.

Soon after kick-off there was a loud chant of “stand up if you love Darlo”, and that set the tone as fans gave the team terrific backing throughout the day, but they did not get a goal to celebrate.

They came close on 12 minutes when an Aaron Brown free-kick to the far post was just too high for Ryan Bowman and the Darlington striker also had a penalty appeal to turned down when he appeared to be shoved by Nathan Pond.

Richard Brodie headed wide after a corner taken by Danny Rose who had to be repeatedly told y referee Richard Clark to move the ball to the correct spot for the set-piece.

The incident led to Rose being booed by the Darlington fans, but he had the last laugh by putting his team ahead just before the break.

Andy Mangan met a cross-field ball, after Graeme Lee attempted to cut it out with a header, and the Fleetwood forward saw his shot rebound off the post out to Rose who slammed home. However, Quakers boss Craig Liddle strongly felt that Mangan was offside in the build-up.

With only around 50 or 60 Fleetwood fans having followed the promotion favourites to The Northern Echo Arena, any cheers they made were easily drowned out by the home support’s vociferous immediate backing of their team.

And within seconds of the restart Bowman came close to a leveller. He broke into the Cod Army’s penalty area, but saw his angled shot tipped wide by keeper Scott Davies.

That was one of the few moments of danger for the visitors during a game that did not come to life in the first half, but at the beginning of the second period the Cod Army took control for a spell. They held possession for lengthy periods as Darlington struggled to get out of their half.

But Quakers’ debutant keeper Jordan Pickford, signed on loan yesterday, had few saves to make. Though he was called into action after Marc Bridge-Wilkinson lost possession in midfield, and Gareth Seddon brought out a fine save from Pickford.

James Gray was the hero soon afterwards. He made a goal-line clearance to keep out a Pone header after a corner.

By the hour-mark Darlington crept their way back into the contest. Bowman pulled the ball back for Adam Rundle who tried a volley from the edge of the area, but his mishit effort rolled wide. The atmosphere continued to grow as Quakers pushed for an equaliser, the large crowd really getting behind the team. There were also loud cheers when it was announced that Craig Liddle and the team were all made ‘man of the match’.

But optimistic efforts from long-range by Gray and Rundle were as close to goal as Darlington as they were kept from goal by a solid Fleetwood defence led by the heavyweight centre-back pairing of Pond and Steve McNulty.

McNulty was no match for Jamie Barton when the young winger raced at the defender late on, but the cross was cleared.

Barton was on as a late substitute for his debut while Rob Ramshaw made his senior home bow, having also played at Barrow, and he was on for the closing stages.

At full-time You’ll Never Walk Alone was played over the public address system as the players showed their appreciation to the large support, making an effort to applaud the fans as they left the pitch.

They are next in action at Hayes & Yeading on Tuesday and are then back at the Arena at home to York City in seven days’ time by which time it is hoped that progress will have been made in securing Darlington’s long-term future.

Darlington: Pickford, Arnison, Lee, Taylor, Brown, Rundle (Ramshaw 90), Bridge-Wilkinson, McReady (Harrison 65), Bowman, Hopson, J Gray (Barton 82). Subs (not used): Nixon (gk), P Gray

Fleetwood Town: Davies, Beeley, McNulty, Pond, Goodall, Mangan, Seddon (Allen 59), Cavanagh, Rose, Fowler (McGuire 82), Brodie. Subs (not used): Clancy, Viera, Stevenson