Quakers return to league action against Whitby.
By Ray Simpson
Hopes are growing that the bad weather will relent and Quakers will be able to take on Whitby on Tue...
Hopes are growing that the bad weather will relent and Quakers will be able to take on Whitby on Tuesday night.
Darlington will again attempt to play their first game of 2016 on Tuesday night when they host Whitby Town at Heritage Park. On Saturday the side's game at Frickley Athletic was called off following a pitch inspection.
The Quakers haven’t played a league fixture at Heritage Park since October 24th and the 2-1 home win over Mickleover Sports 87 days ago, the game against Whitby was originally due to be played on Boxing Day.
The Quakers side features many players who have arrived at the club from Whitby, notably Tom Portas, Graeme Armstrong and captain Kevin Burgess. Portas and Armstrong arrived in the summer of 2014 and were arguably the two best players of the side which gained promotion last season. Burgess made the switch last summer and was swiftly appointed captain. Whitby include former Darlo midfielders Dale Hopson and Ryan Brobbel in their squad.
Whitby have struggled this season and currently sit in one of the four relegation places. However, with new manager Chris hardy in charge, they won their last game away at high flying Nantwich Town, 2-1. The win at Nantwich was the side's first win on their travels in the league this season.
January 2nd Nantwich (away) won 2-1 Roberts, Brobbel
Whitby Town: Bland, Martin, McGinley (Robinson 87), Bullock, Pell, Weledji, McTiernan, Gell, Roberts (Waters 80), Hopson (c), Brobbel. Subs not used: Shepherd, R Gardner, Dixon (GK).
December 28th Frickley (home) drew 1-1 Roberts.
December 19th Sutton Coldfield (home) lost 0-1
November 28th Mickleover Sports (home) won 4-1. Roberts, McTiernan, Hopson, Weledji.
November 21st Mickleover Sports (away) lost 0-1
Darlington manager Martin Gray said; "We can't wait to get going again. The lads have trained well over the past three weeks, and we're eager to restart our promotion campaign."
Quakers last game was at Blyth on December 28th, when they won 1-0 with a goal by Lee Gaskell.
The team: Jameson, Hunter, Galbraith, P Turnbull, Burgess, Brown, Mitchell, Scott, Gaskell (sub Dowson 65), Cartman (sub Portas 60), Thompson (sub Armstrong 60)
Subs: Nowakowski, Provett.
Kick-off at Heritage Park on Tuesday is 7:45pm.
Updates will be made on the club's official Facebook, Twitter and mobile app, while there is live commentary on Darlo Fans Radio and half time and full time reports on the official website.
