Darlington Women are through to the second qualifying round of the Women’s FA Cup thanks to a great win over Lancashire club GT7 at Eastbourne on Sunday.

Sara Ellis was the heroine of the day, scoring a hat trick against a team from the level above. Her first came just on half time to give Quakers the lead and she popped in two more in the second half.

Coach Stuart Burkin said; “It was a really tough game to start the season against a well drilled GT7 team. The girls stuck to their tasks really well and were rewarded late in the first half with a well taken goal from Sara

“The second goal was always going to be key and we got this just after the break with another headed goal from Sara from a fantastic free kick delivered by Lou’

“G7 were not done though and continued to make it tough, getting back into the game to make it 2-1, they continued to work our defence and we required a couple of smart saves from Evie Whittaker to keep us in front. With five minutes to go we scored our third giving us the breathing space to see the game out.

“It was a very professional performance by the girls and a well deserved win.”

Here’s the match report from Chris Barrett

Darlington have had a good history in the Women’s FA cup and would look to progress in the Qualifying rounds again.  Darlington did come out looking like they had a point to prove and put the pressure on early, looking to get at the GT7 defence to test them. 

It nearly paid off as after 4 minutes Hattie Raine had the ball in the back of the net but her run was adjudged to be just offside. 

Darlington continued their good start with plenty of work in the middle of the park. 

The next opportunity came just after the quarter hour mark when Raine lifted the ball over the top of the defence for Katie Bragg to run on to and she beat the defender to lob the ball over the keeper and was unfortunate to see the ball bounce back off the bar. 

This appeared to give GT7 a bit of a reaction and they got more of a foothold in the game and started to play the ball well. 

GT7 were awarded a free kick which could have been dangerous but it was safely headed away by Aimee Dagnall. 

The teams were fairly well matched and struggled to create clear cut chances and it wasn’t until the 42nd minute when another good chance came, when a ball over the top from Nicole Graham put in Hattie Raine to run at goal but the shot was within the keeper’s grasp. 

On the 44th minute Darlington were awarded a free kick down the left hand side. Raine played the ball across to the back of the six yard box for Sara Ellis to take the ball down and fire it into the back of the net to give Darlington the lead before the half time break. 

In the second half Darlington came out strong again pressing early coming out with intent. Darlington had an early opportunity when the ball was won on the right and Dagnall played an enticing ball into the box but it just evaded the killer touch.

Two minutes later Darlington won a free kick a few yards past the half way line. It was driven in by Lou Brown for Ellis to flick the ball on with her head and past the keeper to double the lead. 

It was again two minutes after when GT7 were back in the game with a good break down the right and playing the ball into the box for it to be picked up by the striker who was facing away from goal and she flicked it behind and fired in from close range. 

Both teams were now seeing more success and it took a great save from Evie Whitaker low with her left foot when the striker broke through and got a good low shot at goal. 

As the game progressed the game became a lot more tense as the minutes went on.

As the game reached towards its conclusion on the 90 minute mark Darlington had a corner on the left with Raine delivering a driven flat ball into the middle for Ellis to head home Darlington’s third for her hat-trick! 

The game should have been sealed but straight away GT7 attacked and were awarded a penalty when the striker broke through one on one but was upended by Whitaker. From the resulting penalty the player stepped up but it was pinged off the crossbar. 

From this Darlington managed to see the game out and get a deserved victory and progress into the next round of the FA Cup. 

There were a number of good performances with Emma Carter and Lucy Hart nullifying the wide spaces but player of the match was awarded to hat trick hero Sara Ellis.

Darlington will begin their league campaign next Sunday 8th September against Leam Rangers at home at the Eastbourne Community Stadium.

In the Second Round Qualifying, they will make the long trip to Whitehaven AFC ladies on Sunday 22nd September.