Darlo v Chester

[CrazyDarlo]

Bloody hell how much injury time did we have there?! I’ve got no voice left!

[Darlopartisan]

Lot of negativity about going into this match, looking forward to the game, should be nice sunny day, today could be the day our season turns, so come on get behind the lads

See lads all these negative waves not needed

[Old Git]

Great result, well done to everyone involved. Yes we had a bit of luck, like when their free kick hit the inside of the post and bounced out, and our first goal which was guided into his own net by the defender. It was a bit backs to the wall second half, but we showed plenty of fight to hold on for a precious victory.
The important fact is we found a way to win at home for the first time in 7 months, and hopefully our confidence levels will be rising. Our second and third goals were really well worked and finished by Salkeld and Ngandu. Lets hope Salkeld is not badly hurt after limping off, because he is our main goal threat.

[bga]

Bloody hell how much injury time did we have there?! I’ve got no voice left!

10 minutes according to Darlo fans radio

[loan_star]

Credit where it’s due, that was much better but we were still hanging on at the end.
We need more performances like the first half.
How bad was that ref though? I only thought there was one bad tackle in the whole game yet I lost count of how many bookings there were for both sides. And as for the amount of injury time……

[loan_star]

People were saying basically the same about hedley a month ago.

Hedley was a good candidate for man of the match in my opinion. Lawlor and Burton were both very good today as well.

[Old Git]

What happened at full time when it kicked off ?

[Darlofan97]

Fantastic win.

We have half a chance of staying up. If Gowling can continue to refine this system, extend Burton's loan & bring in one of two to support the wide areas/up-top then we have a chance.

[Darlo_Pete]

IHope springs eternal. I've been working on the South coast, so I'm leaving my hotel at 4-30am to get back for the game, a total of 340miles!!!

Go on then, I will have a guess.
Somewhere between Lyme Regis and Torquay.

Quite close Weymouth and wow it was worth getting up very early to watch today's game. How many times have Darlo and then we've thrown away points?? Really chuffed for Josh and Danny. Anyway onwards and upwards,

[Lawman3]

Fantastic stuff. Great resilience at the end to grind out the wind.

Special mention for Rivers - very good performance considering how little he has been involved.

2 questions:
What happened with the substation when Salk ELD came off and Moke came on and went off? We played with 10 men for quite a few minutes.
And what was all the nonsense about at the end? Straight red for a Chester player. Chester fans on Twitter complaining that their players were attacked by Darlo fans

[Darlo_Pete]

What happened at full time when it kicked off ?

I think Hatfield got hit by their player, the ref saw it and sent the guy off. No idea if he the player had already had a yellow or whether it was a straight red. Thought Lawlor and Burton were terrific. In the second half I was stood near to our dugout and Josh was very animated on the sidelines, much more you ever got from Alun.

[EDJOHNS]

IHope springs eternal. I've been working on the South coast, so I'm leaving my hotel at 4-30am to get back for the game, a total of 340miles!!!

Go on then, I will have a guess.
Somewhere between Lyme Regis and Torquay.

Quite close Weymouth and wow it was worth getting up very early to watch today's game. How many times have Darlo and then we've thrown away points?? Really chuffed for Josh and Danny. Anyway onwards and upwards,

Weymouth = nightmare remembered. The wife and I went over to Jersey by ferry some years ago. The return trip was the worst seas I have ever encountered

[LoidLucan]

At times a bit terrifying in the second half but a great and deserved three points acknowledged by the very fair Chester manager.

Superb goal by Salkeld in which he danced through their defence and a brilliant through ball by Rivers for the third. Rivers was excellent throughout (where has he been) as was Burton and Lawlor. Straight red for their player Tom Peers after the final whistle, I think for fighting after their players took exception to being wound up by our celebrating players.

We showed a level of grit and determination that hasn't been been on display so far. More of the same and there may be a chink of light.

One final point... get that feckin broken floodlight sorted. It's not much to ask.

[theoriginalfatcat]

What a game A brilliant effort and a brilliant result for all involved - the Darlo defence in particular performed well.

I have to admit being concerned though as the second half entered into it's final stages as a floodlight was out in the top corner. From where we were sat in the seats up near the away end it was getting pretty dark out on the pitch.

[Old Git]

What a game A brilliant effort and a brilliant result for all involved - the Darlo defence in particular performed well.

I have to admit being concerned though as the second half entered into it's final stages as a floodlight was out in the top corner. From where we were sat in the seats up near the away end it was getting pretty dark out on the pitch.

Needs sorting before Warrington on 21st.

[Heaton out]

Massive 3pts that! Squeaky bum time at the end but, thankfully we held on, Chester not a bad side so none of that we only beat a bad Farsley crap!

Confidence is a massive thing and I honestly don’t think there’s much between the teams in this league this season.

Still so much to do and I still think it’s gona go to the wire but, that was a must win and we got it, credit to all the lads and the coaching staff, the fight n passion is there.

[Darlo_Pete]

IHope springs eternal. I've been working on the South coast, so I'm leaving my hotel at 4-30am to get back for the game, a total of 340miles!!!

Go on then, I will have a guess.
Somewhere between Lyme Regis and Torquay.

Quite close Weymouth and wow it was worth getting up very early to watch today's game. How many times have Darlo and then we've thrown away points?? Really chuffed for Josh and Danny. Anyway onwards and upwards,

Weymouth = nightmare remembered. The wife and I went over to Jersey by ferry some years ago. The return trip was the worst seas I have ever encountered

I had the same nightmare, but on the way there. Every 15 seconds or so the bow plunged into a trough and the back of the boat shook violently as the propeller came out of the water. Luckily I jumped into the toilets before we even left the harbour and stayed there for about 7hours. Never been so violently sick in my life. Luckily this time I was just on terra firma.

[Darlobill]

Back from a few beers to celebrate, good performance and they looked more confident today.

[50 years]

Several players played really well today but a bit of a shout out for Nelson, won headers, out jumped there players taking the ball on his chest a number of times while in the air, closed defenders down well, considering the few mins he has.played thought he was excellent. Rivers was another one with little game time but worked his socks off and won some great tackles.
Hope we can keep Burton till the end of the season he has added bite and skill to the defence.
Second half was a worry as we backed off them, went deep, rather than close them down. Saying that Hatfield tried to get forward and press when others stayed deep.
Great win with some good football played.

[Quakerlad]

Thought Nelson was poor throughout to be honest and shows how desperate we are for a new Centre Forward. Not doubting his effort or commitment for one minute mind which was excellent as usual.

No idea why JG put a quick fresh full back on right when we were getting torn apart by pace down left after they switched their 23 to right side. Right in front of him too!

But enough….

First half the best we have played since Scarborough away. Played football, passed the ball to feet and scored 2 good goals.
Second half we capitulated but the effort and determination was a credit to every player. Thought the 2 centre half’s were immense when everything getting thrown at them. Agree, Burton looks a “proper” defender and hope we can keep him.

Other impressive thing was how every player, subs and squad players , were animated on the bench, supporting their mates. Same at end and great to see.

[The_Natural]

Realistically, defeats look fairly nailed on in the next two league games and the Trophy match as our problems with scoring and defending continue. The problem then is trying to break the cycle of losing when easier games (on paper) come along. Confidence and belief is already on the floor. What we'll need on Saturday is for Chester to take their eye off the ball with a bit of complacency as they face their easiest game of the season. Here's hoping.

Mystic Meg strikes again
Well done Gowling and the team, important 3 points !

[LoidLucan]

Well done for managing an entire post without mentioning AA. You're clearly making progress with your issues.

[The_Natural]

Well done for managing an entire post without mentioning AA. You're clearly making progress with your issues.

Let’s just be happy we won, bit
Of positive thinking instead of writing off 3 games and claiming that would then put us in a downward spiral would be another plus

[theoriginalfatcat]

What a game A brilliant effort and a brilliant result for all involved - the Darlo defence in particular performed well.

I have to admit being concerned though as the second half entered into it's final stages as a floodlight was out in the top corner. From where we were sat in the seats up near the away end it was getting pretty dark out on the pitch.

Needs sorting before Warrington on 21st.

It bloody does!!

This is not a gripe against DFC, all players and everyone else in our win today were spot on It's our lacklustre landlords to blame here.

Here's what was written by Ray on the official site back in Sept.

"Going forward, we have asked Darlington Rugby Club – as we did last season – to thoroughly check the floodlights at least one day before their scheduled use, and carry out any necessary bulb replacements /repairs so then they satisfy the standards set by the league for match use."

I'm concerned that one day this will cost us. Perhaps there needs to be some financial penalty to get the Rugby Club to do what they should be doing?

[darloed19]

Today’s result is why we gotta let Gowling cook 🤍🤍

[jjljks]

TBF Nelson had a good first half, able to lay off & did plenty of covering back, more than Hazel did when he came on, ambling about then the one chance he had for 4-2, passed wide & gave all the responsibility to Will H. Salkeld scored a cracker & surprised everyone not least Chester by running at their defence & shooting. Hope he can keep doing this for the rest of the season. Defence played the offside game well for the first half but started to look vulnerable when Griff went off 2nd half. Ref had lost the authority by HT with 4 yellows to them & 1 for us. Lost track of their player who should have been off after treatment, letting them get away with pushes & dives, then finally playing 10 extra minutes & unable to cope with fracas at the end. I was surprised he did not abandon the match on 89 minutes because we only had 7 floodlights working. Anyway, great win, 3 points & off the bottom. Keep going lads!

[Comfortably_numb]

First time watching Darlo in the flesh in many many years.

Delighted with the win and thought our 2nd and 3rd goals were quality.

My main takeaways from today were that we looked solid. Lawlor and Burton seem a good partnership.

Ngandu covered a lot of ground - not spectacular as such but suspect he’s a player managers love.

We don’t seem to have a creative / luxury player or a hold it up front man. Suspect Gowling has learnt from his initial games and that the plan for now is to work hard, maintain a shape, have the players graft like mad for each other and exploit the limited chances we’ll get.

I think Gowlings plan will be to keep doing the above, get hard fought results, and THEN he can be more adventurous and try different styles.

The players are defo in this together and with Gowling want to win.

Impressed also with the support from the shed end - like the players, kept going till the end!

[theoriginalfatcat]

I thought the musician playing The Last Post did a fine job.

[onewayup]

Today I take my hat off to everyone connected to DFC well done players, fans and staff let us keep it going working in unison lifting each other getting going in an upward trajectory.on to Chorley Tuesday with renewed vigor.and hopefully another 3 points.
Again well done everyone.

[quakersam]

As I said on social media, that today was something else. That performance is what this club is all about, it’s what we stand for as fans. I’ve been majorly critical of Gowling of late but today he got that spot on, that 45 minutes is probably the best I’ve seen us play since Scarborough and if those lads can put in that level of performance against a side like Chester then there is no reason we can’t get out of the position we find ourselves in.

Yes, second half we were hanging on towards the end and the players will know we can be better than that, but Chester are a very good side and I expected them to come out all guns blazing 2nd half.

The resilience, fight and determination they showed to grind that result out is exactly what we should expect week in week out from a Darlington side and that has been missing for too long but as Gowling said in his PMI, players are starting to recognise those 1%’s, stepping out when you need too, making those latch ditch tackles, anticipating situations rather than reacting too them when its too late.

Despite the two goals, I thought our back four were solid, Lawlor and Burton were immense alongside Hedley and Griffiths. Lindley and Hatfield kept things ticking over in the centre. Lindley’s quality and calmness on the ball is brilliant and he could be a real asset the more games he gets.

If we could get a striker or two in we will be in a good place going forward. We have some nice fixtures to come in the run up to the festive period. Providing its not another 1 step forward, 2 steps back, I’m willing to give Josh more time.

The outpouring of emotion from the players to the fans at the end in front of the Tinshed was incredible. It was just nice to go home with a positive feeling rather than one of despondence.

On to Chorley on Tuesday, not a place we’ve done well at over the years. There’s going to be more ups and downs but we’ve set a standard today and showed just what we are capable of. This performance didn’t look like it was going to come in recent weeks so I am glass half full rather than half empty right now.
There is obviously still movement to come in the squad, it’s imperative we bring in a centre forward and I will be encouraged if we can secure Burton till the end of the season