Arni terminates Bath

Before the game Mark Cooper spoke of avoiding a repeat of the September fixture in which Darlington contrived to squander a 2-0 lead in second half injury time.

Several changes were forced upon the Darlington manager. New signings Adam Quinn and Greg Taylor were cup tied and Tommy Wright was ill, so in came Dan Burn in defence alongside captain Ian Miller. Liam Hatch remained upfront as a result and was partnered by debutant Nathan Modest, a midweek loan signing from Sheffield Wednesday. Curtis Main also started, initially as the right hand side of a midfield diamond.

The early part of the first half was largely incident free and it was the 7th minute before either side managed a shot on target. Dan Burn picked up the ball around 30 yards out and drilled a low shot towards the Bath goal, which Pentney had plenty of time to get behind to make an easy save. Two minutes later and Modest had his first chance, running onto a Gary Smith ball over the top before lashing over from inside the area.

Modest's pace and touch would cause Bath problems all day and he created an opening for Liam Hatch on the quarter hour. A near flick sent Hatch away down the left wing but he was crowded out on the byline by Bath defenders and couldn't get a cross in. Darlington were winning everything in the air at both ends of the pitch and could've taken the lead on 19 minutes, but Hatch headed wide from a curled cross from Gary Smith.

Darlington had a shout for a penalty turned down on the half hour. Liam Hatch returned the earlier favour by flicking a ball through for Nathan Modest. Bearing down on goal his shirt was clearly being pulled by the defending Riddick. Modest got a low shot in regardless which Pentney saved with his legs. The visiting side were perhaps slightly fortunate to avoid a yellow card when Modest was scythed down late in the centre circle minutes later, but from the resulting advantage, Darlington still couldn't find a way through.

As the half drew to a close the Quakers took the lead. A ball across the Bath box was missed by everyone and eventually ran to Paul Arnison. The Darlo right back, visions of his wunderlob against Histon fresh in his mind, took one touch to beat the defender and then with his second sent it across the Bath goal into the far corner to send Darlington in at half time in the lead and looking comfortable. Sam Russell was practically a spectator in the first half as Bath failed to trouble.

Having taken the lead just before half time, Darlo doubled it shortly after. Barely 2 minutes had gone when Aaron Brown swung a left footed ball into the box from just inside the Bath half. It wasn't dealt with by the Bath defence and Liam Hatch seized on the ball. His first shot was well saved but fell straight back to him, and he made no mistake second time around, lashing the ball in from close range to make it 2-0.

As is the pattern in Darlo games of late, once we were two to the good we would concede and so it was that on 58 minutes, Bath pulled one back in some style. Adam Connolly picked the ball up on the edge of the Darlington area and promptly jinked and sidestepped his way past four defenders to make himself space to fire a shot off Sam Russell's left post and give the 21 visiting fans hope of repeating their comeback.

That hope was soon extinguished though by a third for Darlington from Leicester loanee Aman Verma. A clever flick from Curtis Main on the edge of the area sent Verma into the box and he struck low and off the keeper's near post to restore the two goal cushion. Main had a chance to grab his third Trophy goal of the season minutes later but couldn't cleanly meet Arnison's cross on the stretch and sent the ball over.

The fourth and final goal came on 75 minutes, a second for Liam Hatch. After Modest had earned a free kick on the edge of the Bath area, Brown's inswinger again wasn't dealt with by City and eventually fell to Hatch near the penalty spot and he stabbed it home to give Darlo a three goal cushion and put to bed any worries about 7 minutes of injury time.

There were even chances for Cooper's side to further the lead when Verma curled a free kick narrowly wide and Bath defender Jones almost turned a Nathan Modest cross into his own net in injury time, but in the end the final whistle came to signal the end of Bath's participation in the Trophy and leave a largely untroubled Darlington just 3 games away from a trip to Wembley.

Attendance: 926 (21 from Bath)
Man of the Match: Paul Arnison

Darlington: Russell, Brown, Miller, Burn, Arnison, Chandler, G. Smith, Verma, Main, Hatch, Modest
Subs: Austin, P. Gray, J. Gray, Moore, Barnes

Bath City: Pentney, Simpson, Jones, Riddick, Rollo (Murray 53), Harris (Jeanne 72), Connolly, Canham, Jombarti, Webb, Mohamed
Subs (unused): Robinson, Hart, Phillips