Darlington Wearside Youth Under 13s 4 Silksworth Juniors Under 13s 0

Darlington Wearside Youth U13 went into this game already as Russell Foster premier (Sunday) league champions but knowing a win would see them unbeaten for the whole season.

The game saw the return of injured goalkeeper Alexander Bates.

Silksworth were a much fancied team and just a few weeks ago gave the Darlington team a run for their money on their home pitch so this game was expected to be a challenge.

The start of the game saw the usual bright and quick start Darlington have become known for this season and within one minute Darlington's number 4 Kieron Wakefield was fouled just outside the Silksworth box. The free kick was taken by Lucas Reed who saw his shot go just wide of the goal.

Again on five minutes goalkeeper Alexander bates passed the ball to Lucas Reed who passed to Jaxon Briggs. Briggs passed to Daren Robertson and his shot was knocked out for a Darlington corner. Dominic Agnew sent the corner high into the Silksworth goal mouth where Thomas Naisbett rose high above everyone to head the ball just over the goal.

The resulting goal kick was only cleared as far as Dominic Agnew who gave a simple but effective chip over the heads of the Silksworth defence and on six minutes Jaxon Briggs received the ball with a neat chest down and found himself one on one with the goalkeeper. Briggs gave a simple knock with the outside of his left boot giving the keeper no chance.

Darlington Wearside Youth U13 1 - Silksworth Juniors U13 0.

As soon as Silksworth re-started the play after the goal on seven minutes Finn Illingworth stole the ball off a Silksworth forward and sent Jamie Gibson into the Silksworth box. Gibson's shot hit the bar and the re-bound saw Jaxon Briggs again head the ball over the bar.

On twelve minutes a Silksworth clearance only reached as far as the half way line. The ball was passed to Lucas Reed who dribbled the ball into the Silksworth box. Just inside the box Reed gave a great shot which went into the top left corner of the goal giving the goalkeeper no chance.

Darlington Wearside Youth U13 2 - Silksworth Juniors U13 0.

The two goal lead saw the Darlington team 'loosen up' and they started to spread the ball around the pitch with their usual confidence. The movement off the ball was as good as the passing and control when in possession. Such was the speed of the passing that quite often the Silksworth did not have time to put in a challenge and at times it must have seemed like they were 'chasing ghosts'. Any loose balls were chased down with a determination and they contested every stray ball.

On twenty eight minutes the Silksworth team had their first attempt at the Darlington goal. This shot was deflected for a corner and the corner was cleared up field by goalkeeper Bates. The ball again found itself at the feet of Kieron Wakefield who produced a great short through ball pass to Daren Robertson. Robertson shot on the turn giving the Silksworth goal keeper no chance.

Darlington Wearside Youth U13 3 - Silksworth Juniors U13 0. This was the score going into half time.

The second half saw a much more active Silksworth team. They came more into the game and at least got the ball into the Darlington box but because of some great defending they still could not get an effective shot to trouble the Darlington keeper and again on forty five minutes the sheer pace of Jamie Gibson on the Darlington left wing saw him clear of the Silksworth defenders and he rounded two defenders to take the ball to the Silksworth by-line. Devlin produced a cross into the Silksworth goal mouth and Kieron Wakefield found the back of the net.

Darlington Wearside Youth U13 4 - Silksworth Juniors 0.

Again on forty six minutes saw Jamie Gibson round the defender but his shot rattled the bar.

On sixty three minutes Silksworth were awarded a throw in. The Silksworth player received the ball and gave a high, probing kick into the Darlington box towards the far side of the Darlington goal. A Silksworth forward chased into the box and collected the ball. Goal keeper Alex Bates moved in to position himself between the forward and the goal. The Silksworth forward tried to chip the ball over Bates but Bates was ready for this attempt and blocked the ball with his upraised hands. Bates then collected his own block and kicked the ball up field to safety.

The game ended with the final score Darlington Wearside Youth U13 4 - Silksworth Juniors U13 0.

A fitting end to a very successful season which saw the Wearside Darlington Youth U13 team run out worthy (unbeaten) champions winning every game in all competitions.

Statistics:

Russell Foster (Sunday) U13 League

P W L D F A +/- Pts.

18 18 0 0 86 8 +78 54

Russell Foster League Cup Statistics:

Goals FOR = 26

Goals AGAINST = 03

Durham County Cup statistics:

Goals FOR =14

Goals AGAINST = 04

Total goals in all competitions this season:

Goals FOR = 126

Goals AGAINST = 15

Goal difference all competitions = 111.