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Darlington 2 Chorley 3

Goal: Main 12 mins 1-0, Carr 28 mins, 1-1, Hatfield 45+1 mins, 2-1, Sampson 51 mins 2-2. Wilson 69 mins 2-3

Quakers let a half time lead slip away, and were beaten by ten man Chorley.

Quakers had a good first half and deserved to be 2-1 up, but Chorley regrouped after having a man sent off and recovered in the second half.

Chorley haven't lost to Quakers now in their last seven meetings.

Darlington got straight at Chorley from the kick off, trying to take advantage of their visitors’ late arrival.

Cedric Main got around the back of the Chorley defence in the opening minutes, but he couldn’t pull the ball back.

But Chorley hit back on 9 minutes, and Milan Lalkovic cut in from the right and struck a low shot that keeper Peter Jameson saved low down to his right

Quakers took the lead on 12 minutes. Will McGowan played the ball into the box for Cedric Main, who turned quickly and beat Matt Urwin with a low left foot shot into the bottom right corner.

Quakers nearly got another on 14 minutes. Will McGowan got to the goallline and pulled the ball back for Jack Maskell, whose shot took a deflection and struck the right hand post.

Chorley equalised though on 28 minutes. Warren Clarke played a low ball into the box for Tom Carr to stroke first time into the bottom left hand corner.

Quakers tried to hit back. McGowan and Main played some intricate stuff outside the penalty area, and Main got into the box but fired over the top under pressure.

Chorley had a man sent off on 39 minutes. Lalkovic and Scott Barrow tangled off the ball, and Lalkovic appeared to throw a punch at the Darlington skipper, so the referee showed him a straight red card.

Maskell again went close on 42 minutes. A deep cross came over from the left, Maskell rose high at the far post and his header seemed to be going in, until Matt Urwin touched the ball over the bar.

But Chorley nearly scored at the other end. A corner came over from the left which Michael Calverley, but Jameson pushed his header over the bar

Quaker regained the lead just on half time. Scott Barrow did really well to keep the ball in on the left, he crossed into the middle where the ball was cleared as far as Will Hatfield, who fired low into the bottom right corner from just outside the box.

Half time Darlington 2 Chorley 1

Ten man Chorley levelled six minutes after the restart. They won a corner out on the left, and the ball was floated in for Jack Sampson to volley home first time with his left foot.

Maskell did well to find space in the area on the right, but Main couldn’t control his pull back

With the Tin Shed behind them, Quakers started to put more pressure on the Chorley defence and pin them back.

However, Chorley scored from a setpiece on 69 minutes. The ball came into the Darlington box from the left hand side, and Scott Wilson managed to force the ball home.

Quakers made a change on 70 minutes, new signing Ellis Stanton coming on for Rutledge.

McGowan produced some great trickery on the left on 79 minutes, but his cross was headed wide by Maskell.

A swift break by Ben Hedley ended with Hatfield setting up McGowan, whose shot was blocked

And Quakers were denied in the last minute when Tom Allan’s shot took a deflection and seemed to be creeping, but instead the ball hit the post and bounced into the keeper’s hands.

In the last minute of stoppage time, Stanton had a shooting chance from a tight angle, but he fired over the top.

Full time

Darlington 2 Chorley 3

Team: Jameson, Hedley, Forbes, Barrow, Hatfield, McGowan, Allan, Main, Maskell, Rutledge (sub Stanton 70)

Subs: Stanton (signed yesterday), Murray (under 23s), Mortimer (under 23s), Maddison, Kirokiro.