Darlington v Chester Match Preview

Darlo look for first home league win of the season

⚽ Matchday 3

Darlington 🆚 Chester

📅 Tuesday, 18th August, 7.45 pm

🏟️ Blackwell Meadows

Matchball Sponsor: NXTGEN

🎟https://yourclub.darlingtonfc.co.uk/match-tickets

🔥 Match Preview

The Quakers look to bring the momentum of the weekend back home as they prepare to face Chester at Blackwell Meadows on Tuesday Night.

Darlo come into this game after travelling down to Bedford Town, where the Quakers produced another late winner at the New Eyrie as they walked away 3-2 winners thanks to goals from Paddy McLaughlin and Ellis Stanton, both getting their first competitive goals for the club to record the team's first three points of the season.

Darlington’s opponents, Chester, currently sit top of the table after two games with two wins and four goals scored, with the most recent being a 2-0 win at home to King’s Lynn Town thanks to goals from Tom Peers and Ma’kel Campbell.

The Seals won their opening day fixture away at Chorley 2-1 and last season finished 8th in away form with 11 wins and four draws in 23 games with 33 goals scored, and 35 conceded for a total of 37 points.

The last time the two teams met was back in March, when Chester walked away 2-1 winners, with the sole Darlo goal coming from Toby Lees. The last time the two sides met at Blackwell Meadows saw the sides draw 1-1, with Darlo's goal coming from Josh Scott.

📰TEAM NEWS

Max Kilsby has suffered a knee injury and will be out for an extended period of time.

Max Howells is having hamstring issues and should be out for a month

Tom Platt is also having some hamstring issues and will miss about a fortnight.

Toby Lees suffered an injury against Bedford and will be out.

👤 Player Spotlight

Connor Woods is a winger who has an eye for goal and was one of Chester’s standout players last season, coming up with some vital goals. He joined The Seals from Warrington Town in January 2025.

Over the summer, they signed Dan Ward after he departed South Shields. Ward has spent time in the National League with Gateshead and was part of the South Shields side who were pipped to the National League North title by Fylde last season.

There are two former Darlington players in the ranks, one being Jacob Hazel, who spent a season and a half with the club, scoring 18 goals in the National League North in his maiden campaign.

Dominic McHale is also in their ranks; he joined in 2022 on loan from AFC Telford, making a handful of appearances for the club.

📈 Recent results

🏁 Darlington