Darlington Women’s captain Toni Upton updates us on the women's season in this piece for the official website

For those that don’t know me, I am the current Captain of Darlington Women’s FC. It was a huge honour to be handed the armband for the second season, unfortunately most of my activity has been off the pitch rather than on it due to an injury early in the season. Currently recovering from ankle ligament reconstruction surgery, I’m cheering on the girls from the side-lines alongside working hard on my recovery to get back playing as soon as possible.

Meanwhile on the pitch the girls have had mixed fortunes so far this season with an impressive FA cup run, that totalled more than £3k in prize funds, and reaching the Durham County Cup Semi-Final adding to the busy league schedule. Having been defeated by a strong Chester-Le-Street Town, who are undefeated in their league two tiers above, the squad can now turn attentions back to the league.

Currently we have only played 9 matches with some other teams already completed 16. It has been a varied affair with injuries and changing personnel meaning it has turned into something of a transitional season for the girls, with some real positives on the pitch despite the challenges.

Sitting 7^th in the League with 14 points, 4 wins, 2 draws and 3 losses, there is a lot of work to be done on the run in.

Manager Shaun Mackenzie has made some excellent signings mid-season and the effort being shown on the pitch, particularly against higher opposition, suggests that results will come.

Expectations were set high from the start and as such it is easy to forget that this is only the second season for this team, competing in a strong league. And we are competitive, which should be the key takeaway, particularly for a squad so young and that has been missing 4 key players for a large chunk of the season.

Alongside player changes, we have also seen the moving on of Sam Pascoe, our coach and number 2, to coach for Man City Football Group in Cairo Egypt. Sam has been an excellent coach and mentor for the squad and he will be a massive miss. Everyone at DWFC wish him all the best in what is a well-deserved move.

It has been really exciting to see the development of women’s football since the success of the England Lionesses in the Euros last summer. It is notable the number of teams and quality in players across the region. It means that progressing up the leagues is a difficult task but one that everyone is fully motivated to work hard in order to achieve. The hard work will continue on the training pitch that will hopefully be there to see for spectators on a Sunday.

Home games are played on Sundays at Eastbourne Sports Complex with a 2pm kick off -- the next one is this Sunday v Boldon --  although there may be some evening mid-week games in the pipeline as we get closer to the end of the season to make up our games in hand. It would be great to get as many folk along as possible to support the girls, who work hard and try to play entertaining and passing football.