Farsley Celtic Women 8 Darlington Women 2

Our women’s FA Cup run came to an end against Farsley Celtic at the Citadel.

But even though they were beaten by six goals, they can feel very proud of the way that they didn’t give up, especially when Farsley charged into a 5-0 lead inside the first 16 minutes.

You can listen to an interview with assistant manager Harry Bowes here:

https://darlingtonfc.co.uk/news/harry-im-very-proud-of-the-players

Here’s a report from Chris Barrett

Darlington continued their cup journey with a daunting away trip to higher league Farsley Celtic. 
Darlington were on the back foot before the game with Caisey Lee getting a twinge in her calf in the warm up but willing to start the game in her usual right back position. 
The game started quickly and nerves seemed to get the better of Darlington as after four minutes a gap was left in the middle of defence for Farsley to break through to get their first goal of the day. 
This shocked Darlington and they couldn't recover as they failed to set up correctly which again caused confusion and a minute later with the ball in Darlington’s box Farsley managed to lift the ball over keeper Martina Cuccunato. 
Only two minutes later a questionable ball through which appeared to be offside caught out the Darlington defence and allowed Farsley to get their third.
After 15 minutes Farsley got another which was followed up a minute after by their fifth and Darlington looking like they were going to crumble further. 
After the fifth went in Darlington managed to calm themselves and get more of a foothold in the game with Toni Upton and Aimee Dagnall getting more of the ball in the middle of the park and allowing Darlington to hold out until half time without conceding further.
Darlington started the second half as they finished the first and the game looked more balanced. 
After 62 minutes against the run of play Farsley got another opportunity with a ball through middle but Alice Wearmouth had great pace to catch up to make a last ditch tackle just outside the box however the referee adjudged it to be a foul and booked Wearmouth with the resulting free kick being struck over.
After 66 minutes Darlington got the ball through to Doudican in the middle who had her shot smothered and the ball came out to Hattie Raine who managed to put the ball over the crowd of players into the top corner to get Darlington a goal back.
After 74 minutes Farsley broke through again and the initial shot was well saved by Cuccunato but an unfortunate ricochet landed at the feet of the Farsley attacker who scored to make it 6-1.
In the 78th and 80th minutes Farsley got two more on what was a tough day for Darlington, but to their credit, they kept battling away, cheered on by their supporters.
They did manage to finish strong and after some good build up play from Upton and Dagnall the ball was played through to Doudican who scored the final goal of the game. 
The result and the score will be a disappointment but on reflection the team will be happy with their first FA Cup journey and can now focus on their league form hopefully pushing their way higher up the table.

STARTING XI

Cuccunato, Lee, Wearmouth, Frew, Peart, Carter, Upton, Dagnall , Doudican, Raine, Curle 

Subs: Atkinson, Padurariu, Garnett, Tinkler, Whitworth

Subs used: 

Whitworth for Frew 

Garnett for Curle 

Padurariu for Lee

Goalscorers: 

Hattie Raine 

Emma Doudican 

We'd like to thank Atkinson's Coaches for taking our women's team to the game

https://atkinsoncoaches.co.uk/

and we'd like to thank the following kit sponsors:

Hattie Raine (sponsored by Krystal Sells), Emma Carter (The Cheese and Wine Shop), Emma Doudican (Winroths Hairdressers), Sarah Frew (Chic Beauty Academy), Martina Cuccunato (Premier 1 Filtration), Caisey Lee (Engage to Learn), Olivia Whitworth (Terry Farley MBE), Sophie Curle (Franks Carpets), Natalie Peart (RA Dalton Ltd), Toni Upton (Dawn Fire Safety), Alice Wearmouth (Direct Flooring), Chloe Bright (Jordan Hanratty Personal Training),  Chloe Tinkler (Glen and Mary Bowes), Millie Garnett (eco Hair Salon), Aimee Dagnall (Andrew Scullion), Gabrielle Padurianu (John Vickerman)