Darlington Women finish the season in style
By Ray Simpson
Big 5-1 away win at Chester-le-Street
Darlington Women finished their successful debut season in the Durham County FA Women's League in style when they won 5-1 at Chester-le-Street.
Considering that they are a brand new team that was only formed last summer, the Women have had a great season.
They were unbeaten in the league until February, had a great run in the FA Cup, and have finished in the top four of the league.
They have also applied for promotion to the next level up, and are hoping for news about that very soon.
The club would like to thank all the players for their efforts this season, and also the back up team off it, especially the manager, Shaun MacKenzie.
Sunday's win put Quakers into second place of the table, but Gateshead and Gateshead Rutherford can still overtake them.
Manager Shaun MacKenzie said; "I was absolutely delighted for the girls, we played some lovely stuff and showed that on our day, when we play our football and keep the ball on the ground, any team struggles to keep us at bay. After dropping points on Thursday, it was the perfect reaction and we were certainly more clinical in front of goal.
"It’s a strong performance to finish off our debut season and I am very proud of the efforts of each and every one of the players this season. The players will now have a well deserved break and I am already looking forward and planning for next season, a massive thank you to everyone who has supported us this season."
Here's the match report from Chris Barrett:
Darlington exploded into the game with Hattie Raine feeding the ball in to Katie Sheridan who found Aimee Dagnall, who drove into the middle from the right and drove a fierce shot over the keeper to give Darlington the lead within 23 seconds.
It took Amazons 4 minutes to get their first effort on goal which was speculative and held by Ellen Atkinson. Darlington countered quick from this effort and got the ball through to Hattie Raine who was chasing through to go 1 on 1 but the keeper smothered well.
Amazons were back in the game on 14 minutes after good build up on their right hand side, the attacker managed to create some space and shot high looping it over the keeper giving her no chance making it 1-1.
Both teams were trying to play football, trying to keep possession and creating chances, but any threat from Chester was cut out well by Sarah Frew, Alice Wearmouth and Emma Carter in a changed back three that settled well after the equaliser.
Darlington got ahead again after 21 minutes when Emma Doudican built the play well on the left, then playing it into Katie Sheridan, who dribbled the ball into the centre and with the keeper off the line lifted the ball over the keeper for a delightful finish.
There was concern on 41 minutes when a clearance was struck straight into the face of Lacey Baldwin, requiring her to be taken off, after again starting the game strong in the middle of the park. With half time approaching, Amazons managed to find space just outside the box and struck into the top corner but it was superbly saved by Atkinson and tipped over the bar.
The first half injury time was long due to the injury to Baldwin leaving Darlington to get a late corner. The ball was played in to the box with Dagnall putting it back across the box for Sheridan to steal in and with a deft dink finish squeezed it past the keeper to give Darlington a 3-1 lead going into the break.
Darlington came out after the break with the same energy as they finished the first, pressing high and they got their reward on 48 minutes when the ball was played to Doudican on the left who drove towards goal and when she played the ball in across the box it took a wicked deflection off the defender to gift Darlington another goal. Darlington did not relent and created more chances with good strikes from Raine, which was just tipped wide and a long range hit from Millie Garnett who had an audacious attempt from 35 yards out just tipped away.
Darlington added a fifth on 68 minutes when Dagnall won the ball back in the middle of the park after battling with 2 players and again from far out hit another screamer which blasted past the keeper for arguably the goal of the day.
Amazons continued to battle and did get in behind a couple of times to get strikes on goal but all were dealt with well by Atkinson.
Darlington did continue to press also but could not find another break through and saw out the match to finish with a 5-1 win.
Players of the match went to both Aimee Dagnall (kit sponsored by Andrew Scullion) for two fantastic goals and a determined effort leading in the middle of the field and to Katie Sheridan (kit sponsored Arthur Wharton Foundation) for also scoring two great goals and great forward play.
The win was a great way to finish a fantastic debut season from Shaun Mckenzie and his team and they will be looking to push on and raise the bar next season if they don’t get promotion.
Final score: Chester-le-Street Amazons 1 Darlington Women 5
STARTING XI
12: Atkinson,
11: Bright,
6: Frew,
5: Wearmouth,
3: Carter,
8: Doudican,
7: Baldwin
10: Upton (c),
16: Dagnall,
20: Sheridan,
9: Raine,
Substitutes: Garnett, Whitworth, Padurariu and Tinkler
Here's the league table as it stands
We'd like to thank our 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), 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), Lily Large (Arthur Wharton Foundation), Katie Sheridan (Arthur Wharton Foundation)
