Darlo 3 v 1 West Auckland
Darlo progressed through their FA Cup Preliminary round, as they came from behind to beat local rivals West Auckland in a replay. All three of the Quakers goals came from corners through an own goal, Graeme Armstrong and substitute Liam Hatch.
Darlington progressed in their first FA Cup tie in three seasons, although they were pushed all the way by Northern League side West Auckland. A rivalry which saw tensions rise high when the sides met two seasons ago, threatened to boil over on occasion, but the only thing that will matter for Darlo is their place in the next round.
Having drawn the original tie at West on Saturday, 1-1, Darlo selected the same starting line-up. Former Darlinggton players Ian Ward and Brian Close were in the West Auckland side.
The first half was mostly non eventful with neither side taking control of the game. Dowson, Mitchell and Thompson all went close from outside the box, but our best chance was missed by Mitchell when he fired straight at the keeper from close range.
However right before half time West took the lead, as they were given the opportunity to open the scoring from the penalty spot. Terry Galbraith was turned and committed a foul just inside the box, Dennis Knight then made no mistake from the resulting penalty, as the visitors took a 1-0 lead into the break. They had previously had a couple of efforts from long range, but Darlo goalkeeper Pete Jameson hadn’t been seriously troubled.
The second half started in a fiery manner with a couple of late tackles going in from both sides. At times it all threatened to escalate with an incident involving a fan and another involving a West substitute.
West Auckland should have doubled their lead when a goal mouth scramble saw Darlo twice clear off the line and the visitors were made to pay for the missed opportunity.
Shortly after Darlo scored twice, as they took the lead for the first time in the tie. The first came from a Tez Galbraith corner which was nodded unmarked into his own net by West Auckland centre back Darryl Hall. Minutes later, a corner from the other side of the pitch was buried by a header from striker Graeme Armstrong to give Darlo a 2-1 lead.
From this point Darlington controlled the game a lot more and the game was put to bed when Liam Hatch scored with his first touch after coming off the bench. Another corner led to another goal with Hatch grabbing his second since returning the club as he headed in at the back post.
The second half as a whole was a lot better from Darlo and as the game got stretched later on we could have scored more.
Overall tonight, the first half was poor from our point of view, but up until the penalty we were rarely threatened at the back. The improvement in the second period was there for all to see and despite all the goals coming from corners, the all round play was a lot better.
Mitchell and Portas once again stood out, Portas used the ball well every time and was able to control the game in the middle of the park. Mitchell ran himself into the ground as per usual and should have been played in by Dowson when the game was 2-1.
Thommo got a lot more involved in the second half and put some fantastic balls into the box for the strikers, hopefully a sign he is getting back to his unstoppable best.
Anyway we move into the next round picking up useful prize money on the way and our reward is a home tie with Blyth Spartans. It is a great chance to progress against a side in a higher division and hopefully it will be one which can bring in a crowd.
Simon Hahn 