Darlington Women let a three goal lead slip and lost to Spennymoor Town at Houghall on Sunday.

However, there was plenty to encourage manager Shaun MacKenzie as they prepare for the big kick off on 4^th September.

Here are his thoughts in his post-match interview:

Darlington started the game strong with the team clearly not intimidated by their opponents and they pressed high up the field. This was led by Katie Sheridan who closed in on the full back who was forced to play the ball into the keeper who this time was pressed by Sophie Curle. This led to a mistake by the keeper who couldn’t clear and the ball was snatched by Curle who calmly put the ball in the back of the net to give Darlington a lead after 4 minutes.

Two minutes later, Spennymoor were on the attack and it took a wonderful save from Ellen Atkinson to keep the ball out, when the ball was played down the left hand side and the Spenny attacker cut inside to shoot for the top corner but this was thankfully pushed away to safety.

After the first goal, Spennymoor began to get a foothold in the game and they began creating a number of opportunities but the defence did well to limit any clear cut chances other than the early effort saved by Atkinson. Spenny looked to be trying to attack down their left hand side but Gabi Padurariu did a stellar job of marshalling the left winger and Lily Large was also playing well using her pace to intercept any balls played over the top.

After 17 minutes the ball was picked up by Padurariu who calmly took a touch under pressure and played the ball up the line to Hattie Raine who got the ball and fed it into Chloe Ryan, Ryan then played a great through ball in to Sophie Curle who had her initial effort saved but was alert enough to gather up the ball and finished the second time around with her left foot. 

Neither team was able to dominate and again Atkinson was called into action with a good ball swung in from the corner but it was well punched out to safety.

There were further chances for Darlington with Emma Carter first creating a chance on 22 minutes with an excellent penetrating ball through to Curle and Chloe Ryan with a lovely instinctive pass on the half hour mark creating chances for Curle but the keeper stood up strong to smother both.

Darlington were under pressure on the 28th minute and Spenny worked it well to get a strike on goal from the edge of the box but it was a brave block from Alice Wearmouth who threw her body in the way of it to keep the ball out and this allowed Darlington to get the ball away to counter up the field to win a corner. From the resulting corner Wearmouth turned from defensive warrior to goalscoring fox in the box with the corner swung in to the back post and Wearmouth stooping to nod the ball in for a three nil lead.

Spennymoor got one back just before the break when a defensive lapse allowed Spenny to get the ball in from the left hand side and a player was left free to sneak in at the front post to turn the ball home.

Darlington had a number of players missing so there was only a few changes at half time unlike previous matches when Darlington have been able to utilise their large squad. 

Spenny came out the stronger in the second half and it wasn’t long before half time substitute goalkeeper Martina Cuccanato was called into action when the Spenny striker managed to create some space and get a strong shot away but this was well saved by Cuccanato.

On the hour mark, Spennymoor got another goal back with them again attacking down the left hand side and managing to cut inside and finding enough space to get the ball past the keeper to make it 3-2 to Darlington.

Darlington were creating fewer chances in the second half and were looking to be tiring with less options to change the game. The persistence from Spennymoor told and they got the equaliser on 72 minutes with a misjudged bounce from a throw in from the right hand side again allowing the Spenny striker to nip in again at the front post to turn the ball home.

Spennymoor did look to be in again with a ball over the top of the defence and it took another smart tackle from Wearmouth to stop a one on one at goal.

It was only two minutes later though that there was the killer from Spennymoor with the ball again being played down the left hand side and they managed to get the ball crossed in with a free player running in who had space to head the ball into the goal. Darlington did try to push on and attack further but they could not manage to make the breakthrough and the game finished with a four three loss. 

Although there will be disappointment in letting a three goal lead slip, there was a lot of positives to take from the game and on another day with more chances being taken it could have been a different result.

There were a number of really strong performances with  Padurariu dealing well with the waves of attack down the left hand side in the first half and Alice Wearmouth with a number of key tackles and a goal to her name. 

Player of the match went to Toni Upton (Sponsored by Dawn Fire Safety) for an industrious display marshalling the midfield well and linking the play in midfield and a terrific work rate as always. 

Darlington are scheduled to have a couple more tough pre season games prior to the league commencing and will be looking to continue their good form despite this loss to a high quality Spennymoor side.

We’d like to thank the following kit sponsors:

We'd like to thank the following sponsors: 

Martina Cuccunato: 

Home: Premier 1 Filtration 

Away: Vacant 

Ellen Atkinson:

Home: LW & GM Atkinsons & Son

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Evie Whittaker: 

Home: Vacant 

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Emma Carter:

Home: Direct Flooring 

Away: vacant 

Alice Wearmouth:

Home: Direct Flooring 

Away: Vacant 

Lou Brown:

Home: Saddington Taylor LTD

Away: vacant

Sarah Frew:

Home: SMS Tech (Smart Manufacturing Solutions Technology)

Away: SMS Tech (Smart Manufacturing Solutions Technology)

Gabi Paduriaru:

Home: David Stothard

Away: Vacant 

Millie Garnett:

Home: Eco Hair Salon

Away: Vacant 

Lily Large:

Home: Arthur Wharton Foundation  

Away: Vacant 

Chloe Tinkler: 

Home: Vacant

Away: Vacant

Chloe Bright: 

Home: Jordan Hanratty Personal Training 

Away: Active Kids Play Scheme

Toni Upton

Home: Dawn Fire Safety 

Away: Dawn Fire Safety

Emma Doudican 

Home: Winroths Hairdressing  

Away: Winroths Hairdressing 

Olivia Whitworth

Home: Terry Farley MBE

Away: Vacant 

Aimee Dagnall 

Home: Andrew Scullion

Away: Vacant

Hattie Raine: 

Home: Thomas Watson Auctioneers 

Away: Thomas Watson Auctioneers 

Katie Sheridan: 

Home: Arthur Wharton Foundation 

Away: Ingleton Site Management LTD

Sophie Curle: 

Home: Arthur Taylor Carpet Fitting Services 

Away: Raisco Limited  

Lacey Baldwin: 

Home: Lineside Fencing NE Ltd 

Away: Lineside Fencing NE Ltd 

Chloe Ryan: 

Home: Arthur Wharton Foundation

Away: The Little Quaker Distillery 

Caisey Lee

Home: vacant

Away: vacant

Nicole Graham

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Away: vacant

Management team:

Shaun Mackenzie training kit: John Vickerman

Sam Pascoe training kit: NC Group LTD

Dan Lupu training kit: Vacant

Chris Barrett training kit: Vacant