Darlington Reserves 1 Gateshead Leam Rangers 3

The reserves were outmuscled when they were beaten 3-1 at Eastbourne Sports Complex on Saturday.

The team was largely made up of teenagers for the game, and joint manager Mark Fanning said; “When our quality isn’t spot on, then we’ll always struggle, because we can’t match the physicality of the other teams.

“But the lads still showed plenty of spirit and determination, and kept going right to the end.

“We were 2-0 down in the first half hour, then pulled one back, but they went straight down the other end and scored.

“We’ve got six games left now, and we’ll be looking to give opportunities to more of our Under 18s players.”

Our goalscorer was former jockey Mick O’Connell.

The lads next game is at Annfield Plain n Saturday, kick off 2pm.