Darlington Women lost ground on the leaders in the Durham County Women’s League when they lost 3-1 at Gateshead Leam Rangers on Sunday,

Manager Shaun MacKenzie said; “It was a disappointing result, a frustrating performance for everyone and it feels like two steps forward and one step back. We had shown promise in the last two weeks of building some momentum and going on a run but it just didn’t happen for us .

“I thought we were the better team in the first half, thought we had more of the ball, created the better chances but the goal just didn’t come. Having the wind didn’t really help us and everything just kept running too far. We just couldn’t find that final ball but it wasn’t for the want of trying. Conceding just before half time is one of the worst times to concede and the girls were disappointed to come in behind at the break.

“We did keep trying to play in the second half but the second goal knocked us back and fair play to Leam who managed the game well and ran the clock down. We had a glimpse of hope of getting something from the game when Katie Bragg got her first goal which has been coming for a few weeks but we just couldn’t find the equaliser. We will re group and go again next week. We can’t afford to lose many more games so we have to kick on and try to get some consistency back. We are back at home next weekend after three away games in a row and it would be great to have your support.

“Thanks to everyone that came along to Leam today, we are gutted we didn’t come home with the points.” 

Match Report from Chris Barrett:

It looked good from the start with the early part of the game being dominated by Darlington and they got some good early chances with a long range effort from Aimee Dagnall being held by the keeper and a Hattie Raine corner just volleyed over from a corner from Grace Taylor. 

Just before the quarter hour mark Leam came close when they broke down the right hand side, the ball was pulled across the box but the shot was sliced just wide.

Darlington came close a couple of times near the half hour mark, firstly with Grace Taylor benefitting from some good build up play to receive the ball to the right of the box but saw her shot blocked well.

This was followed up two minutes later when a strong run from Nicole Graham got the ball up the pitch and a neat ball through allowed Chloe Ryan to break the defensive line and beat the keeper with a clipped finished but it just bounced wide of the post. 

Just as half time was looming Darlington were again caught on the counter, this time down the left hand side and this time when the ball was pulled across it was an easy finish from the centre of the box into the empty net. 

After the half time break Darlington come out looking to get back into the game quickly. However after ten minutes again Darlington were caught on the break after a couple of contentious decisions were not given Darlington’s way and Leam took advantage to break down the right and again pull the ball across for another goal. 

Darlington continued to press on with a good effort from Raine being pushed around the post and the resulting corner bouncing around in the box only to be deflected just over and wide of the goal. 

With Darlington pressing to get a goal back it left them vulnerable and Leam came close when they broke into the box and it took a strong point blank save from Hannah Billingham to keep the ball out. 

On the 80th minute Darlington got a lifeline when a lovely ball was slid in from Dagnall to Lily Wilkinson to break through the middle but defensive pressure meant the ball had to played out to Katie Bragg who was there to finish well, open her account for the season and get Darlington on the board.  

With time running out Darlington had to continue to gamble getting a number of players high up the pitch for an equaliser. This didn’t pay off and Darlington were caught out when the press was high from a Darlington goal kick and the ball was won for a quick turnover and they broke into the box and finished for a third and final goal and ultimately the winner. 

It is a performance Darlington will be disappointed by as they showed moments of promise but couldn’t take enough chances and were ultimately caught out and punished for it. 

Player of the match went to Aimee Dagnall for a very dominant performance in the middle of the park winning a lot of the first balls in the middle and being one of the creative sparks in the team.