The Under 15s travelled away in the 3rd round of the League Cup to premier league leaders Hetton Inter and the game turned into a classic cup tie.

Both teams started well in the windy conditions and Darlington took the lead midway through the first half when Harry Noble received the ball in the Hetton half turned three defenders and curled a unstoppable 30 yard shot into the top corner .This was a landmark 100th competitive goal for Harry since joining the club and we doubt he will ever score one better.

Darlington grabbed a quick second goal when Harry Hobbs fed Robbie Lee on the right and he calmly finished from 12 yards to give Darlington a 2-0 lead.

With half time only a minute away a great passing move saw Hetton grab a scrappy goal to send the scores in 1-2 at half time.

The second half began with Hetton pushing and pressing Darlington high up the pitch which resulted with Hetton grabbing a deserved equaliser midway threw the second half.

Worse was to come for Darlington as a fine solo goal by the Hetton forward gave the home team the lead and complete a remarkable turnaround.

With the game entering the final 10 minutes Darlington threw caution to the wind and a fine solo run by Adam Bearpark saw him beat five Hetton players and square the ball to Joe Bettridge who smashed home from the edge of the box to make it 3-3.

Darlington now had the wind in their sails. They pushed forward and were rewarded with a free kick 30 yards from goal which Harry Noble smashed against the bar , Matthew Wilson then headed the rebound clearly over the line to which the Hetton defenders then cleared but the referee waved play on.

With the game heading towards extra time and with only 2 minutes left to play Darlington still pushed men forward and were awarded a free kick 40 yards out when Harry Hobbs was fouled .

Harry Noble again stepped up and smashed the free kick goalwards. The ball evaded the Hetton keeper and saw the ball settle in the back of the net .

For the final two minutes Darlington put all 11 men behind the ball to clear their lines and hung on to record an excellent hard fought victory .

Special mention should go to the Darlington keeper James Thorpe who pulled off numerous fantastic saves to keep Darlington in the game .

Final score Hetton Inter 3-4 Darlington youth

Man of the match James Thorpe .