⚽ Matchday 21

🆚 Darlington v Oxford City

🔥 Match Preview

Darlington will look to continue their winning form this week with a win on Saturday, with Oxford City coming to visit Blackwell Meadows.

They have already met earlier this season when both teams walked away with a point after a 2-2 draw, with Elliot Forbes and Cedric Main being the goal scorers that day.

Darlington are coming into this game after a 2-1 victory on Tuesday night against Hereford when Jack Lambert opened the scoring on his fourth home debut for The Quakers, and another Will Hatfield free kick special helped keep the points at Blackwell Meadows on the night.

Oxford City had an FA Trophy game on the weekend against Hadley FC of the Southern Football League when they won 2-1, with key players Zac McEachran and Corie Andrews providing the goals on the day.

In the league, Oxford currently find themselves 18th with 21 points after 20 games. They have changed their manager since the two sides met in August, with Ross Jenkins returning to the club in place of Sam Cox.

📰 Team News

Kallum Griffiths will have a fitness test.

Andrew Nelson is steadily recovering from a knee injury.

👤 Player Spotlight

A familiar face for Darlington fans will be Cardo Siddik, who, after spending last season with Darlo, has since left and joined Oxford City. Potentially this could be his first game back at Blackwell Meadows, although he has not been involved in recent matchday squads.

The key man for Oxford City is centre forward Zac McEachran, who has six goals and four assists this season. He has been playing in multiple roles, varying from centre midfield to out wide, but most recently in a centre forward role. In his last league game, he got himself a goal and an assist in a 4-1 win against Farsley Celtic.

Corie Andrews is another striker who scored against Farsley and is in good form, also on six goals this season. These two players are helping the Hoops stay above the relegation zone in 18th.

Recently, they have adopted a 3-5-2 formation, which has seen an upturn in their form over the past ten games as they look to shore up their defence. There have been 67 goals in their games this season, the second highest in the division.

📊 League Records

🏁 Darlington

• Position: 12th
• Played: 20
• Wins: 7
• Draws: 8
• Losses: 5
• Goals For: 24
• Goals Against: 20
• Goal Difference: 4
• Points: 29

🕹 Home Form: 7th in the league
Played: 10 | Won: 5 | Drawn: 4 | Lost: 1 | Goals for 13 against 7 Points: 19

🏁 Oxford City

• Position: 18th
• Played: 20
• Wins: 5
• Draws: 6
• Losses: 9
• Goals For: 30
• Goals Against: 37
• Goal Difference: -7
• Points: 21

🚐 Away Form: 15th in the league
Played: 10 | Won: 3 | Drawn: 2 | Lost: 5 | Goals for 13 against 18 Points: 11

📊 Recent Results

⚪⚫ Darlington

• 10th December v Hereford (Home) – Won 2-1 (Lambert, Hatfield)
  🔗 Watch Highlights
• 7th December FA Trophy v York City (Away) – Lost 1-3 (Cornish)
• 30th November v Radcliffe (Away) – Won 4-1 (Hatfield, Kelly, Griffiths, Main)
  🔗 Watch Highlights
• 26th November v Scunthorpe (Home) – Drew 0-0
• 16th November FA Trophy v Buxton (Home) – Won 1-0 (Main)
• 12th November v Peterborough Sports (Home) – Drew 2-2 (Barrow, Lees)
• 9th November v Brackley (Away) – Lost 1-2 (Main)
• 5th November v Chester (Home) – Won 1-0 (Main)
• 2nd November v Farsley (Away) – Won 2-0 (Alshabeeb, Forbes)
• 26th October v Warrington (Home) – Drew 2-2 (Nelson, og)

🔗 Advice on Conduct

League Position: 12th (Played 20, Won 7, Drawn 8, Lost 5, Goals For 24, Goals Against 20, Points 29)

Home Form: 7th Best in the League (Played 10, Won 5, Drawn 4, Lost 1, Goals For 13, Goals Against 7, Points 19)

🔵 Oxford City

• 7th December FA Trophy v Hadley (Home) – Won 2-1 (McEachran, Andrews)
• 29th November v Farsley Celtic (Home) – Won 4-1 (Andrews, Ashby, Scott, McEachran)
• 26th November v Chester (Away) – Lost 1-3 (Jones)
• 23rd November v Buxton (Away) – Lost 1-2 (Carbon)
• 19th November v Alfreton (Home) – Lost 1-2 (Parker)
• 16th November FA Trophy v Sporting Khalsa (Home) – Won 5-0 (Parker, Croker, McEachran, Carbon, Scott)
• 9th November v Scarborough (Home) – Drew 1-1 (McEachran)
• 5th November v Hereford (Away) – Won 2-0 (Ashby, Parker)
• 2nd November v Southport (Home) – Drew 1-1 (Roddy)

League Position: 18th (Played 20, Won 5, Drawn 6, Lost 9, Goals For 30, Goals Against 37, Points 21)

Away Form: 15th Best in the League (Played 10, Won 3, Drawn 2, Lost 5, Goals For 13, Goals Against 18, Points 11)

🤝 Recent Games Between the Two Clubs

• August 2024: Oxford City 2 (Coyle, Jones) v Darlington 2 (Forbes, Main)
  🔗 Watch Highlights

📻 Follow the Game

You can follow the match on Darlo Fans Radio, X, and the Official Website.