Darlington U18s were knocked out of the DCFA County Cup after a 3-2 reverse at New Hartley. It was a great cup tie despite being played in wet conditions on a slightly heavy surface.

The young Quakers have been out of action since the 2-1 defeat at Ryhope on October 31 thanks to a combination of bad weather and county squad call ups. They also travelled to Tyneside without both of their main goalkeepers Carl Robinson and Connor Pearce.

All things considered Darlington did extremely well to get two good goals thanks to Danny Wheeler and Adam Lee-Shields. However, New Hartley are currently one point above Darlington in the league and are also unbeaten at home. They managed to score three goals of their own to advance into the semi-final after a great cup tie.

Darlington return to league action at Ryton Blacks on December 12. They are currently one point behind Saturday’s opponents and three behind leaders Shildon with a game in hand.