Darlington Reserves 5 South Shields Reserves 2

The reserves staged a second half fightback to beat South Shields Reserves 5-2 at Eastbourne on Saturday afternoon.

The lads played some great football in the second half to help them come back from 2-1 down and pick up the three points, while Dale Milburn scored two cracking goals.

Joint manager Mark Fanning said; “We were much better in the second half than we were in the first. We controlled the game more, passed the ball around better, and played some good football.

“We stopped making mistakes and giving away goals. Hopefully, the fans who turned up for the game enjoyed it.”

Quakers took the lead with a good effort by Johnny Hope, but then a poor clearance and an unmarked header let Shields back into the game and lead 2-1.

But Dale Milburn then produced a cracking effort for the equaliser, when he hit a shot from the left hand side that went across the keeper into the top corner, and just on half time Derek Wade made it 3-2 with a header from a corner.

It was 4-2 midway through the second half when Niall Smith beat a couple of defenders and knocked the ball past the keeper, and with five minutes left Milburn produced another great finish for the fifth. Quakers remain seventh in the table.

The games won’t come much tougher than their next one, which is at home to league leaders Cleator Moor Celtic this Saturday.