Darlington Women 3 Darlington Spraire Ladies 0

Darlington Women won the Darlo derby with a good 3-0 home win over Darlington Spraire Ladies at Blackwell Meadows.

The victory was a measure of revenge for Quakers against Spraire, as they didn’t beat them in the league and league cup last season – and it was a great free kick by Hattie Raine to set them on their way. (Video highlights follow soon, thanks to Kev)

Darlington manager Shaun MacKenzie said; “It was excellent to get off to a winning start. We were really good in the first half, and we scored some very good goals."

(There'll be video interviews with Shaun and skipper Toni Upton soon)

Here's the match report from Chris Barrett

There was a large crowd for the first game of the season with the teams welcomed onto the pitch by some of the Darlington girls youth teams waving flags adding to the spectacle of the first game of the season.

There were obvious nerves from both teams for the big occasion as the teams initially struggled to get the ball down with Darlington trying to get the ball over the top in behind the Spraire defence.

There weren’t many chances early on and the first good opportunity for Darlington came on 15 minutes when Darlington won a foul on the left hand side just outside the box. Hattie Raine was given the opportunity and she stepped up and struck it sweetly curling it over the wall for it to nestle sweetly in the back of the net to give Darlington the lead.

Darlington continued to apply pressure with a lot of the balls being switched to the left hand side for Emma Carter to feed Emma Doudican down the wing testing the Spraire right back.

Darlington were beginning to create more chances with an effort from Chloe Ryan well saved by the keeper and other shots from Doudican and Katie Sheridan just off target.

On 41 minutes Darlington doubled their lead. The ball was picked up by Lacey Baldwin in the middle who was taken out but the ball came to Raine who managed to play the ball through the middle to Chloe Ryan who was calm and composed and slid the ball past the keeper for her first competitive goal for Darlington.

Darlington started the second half as they had the first by dominating the play but there were a few more loose tackles and it became a feisty affair with Baldwin and Toni Upton taking a number of hits in the middle but managing to keep their heads and keep the ball moving. On 65 minutes the ball was again switched quickly with the ball played out to Raine. From the left hand side she played the ball into the box which was collected by 2nd half substitute and Darlington youth prospect Nicole Graham who took control of the ball and calmly passed the ball past the keeper to the delight of her numerous fans in the crowd.

Spraire rarely had chances but they were given a foul outside the box after a Spraire attacker was clipped by Alice Wearmouth and the resulting free kick was struck well but it was well dealt with by Ellen Atkinson who pushed it over the bar.

Late on Darlington thought they had another with the ball again being played in from the left hand side which was played across the box which made its way across to another substitute Liv Whitworth who finished low back across the keeper but it was adjudged to be offside.

The game finished 3-0 to Darlington who will be happy to have started the season with 3 points on the board early and also looking like they should be able to step up again if they can take more chances.

It was a pleasing start defensively with Atkinson getting a clean sheet dealing well with the few opportunities created. Darlington will also be happy with the goals being distributed through the team meaning there are a number of options available with availability from the bench giving the squad depth. 

Next game will again require big support with a tough game against higher division Ripon City in the FA Cup at Eastbourne Sports Complex on Sunday 11^th September, kick off 2pm.

We'd like to thank the following sponsors: 

Martina Cuccunato: 

Home: Premier 1 Filtration 

Away: Vacant 

Ellen Atkinson:

Home: LW & GM Atkinsons & Son

Away: Harker Coaches

Evie Whittaker: 

Home: Steve Halliday

Away: Vacant 

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: Phil's Fine Finishes

Lily Large:

Home: Arthur Wharton Foundation  

Away: Vacant 

Chloe Tinkler: 

Home: Steve Halliday

Away: Brinkburn Pub

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

Home: Stuart Shanks Painting and Decorating

Away: Stuart Shanks Painting and Decorating

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