Durham Cestria 3 Darlington Women 2

Darlington Women were unlucky to see lose by the odd goal in five against Durham Cestria on Sunday.

They were two goals down at one stage and fought back to level, but Cestria scored a late winner.

Manager Shaun MacKenzie said; “I was really proud of the girls, we are going through a bit of a rough patch in terms of results, but that’s not through lack of effort or trying. We put in a performance that had lots of positives and although we came away with no points, we can build on it and look to get back to winning ways next week.

“We knew that Cestria move the ball so well and with limited touches, so the game plan was always to let them have the ball, sit in a low block and stay compact and keep our shape. I thought the girls were excellent and did everything I asked of them. It’s sometimes hard to get the girls to buy in when you’re letting the opposition have the ball and not the most enjoyable games to play in. However, we knew we just needed to defend well, deny the space and stay in the game and then we could have some joy on the counter.

“We were pleased with the result at half time, two goals down but we had limited Cestria to few opportunities. We knew if we could have a bit more quality on the ball and be a bit more pro active getting bodies forward in the transition then we could cause them problems.

“We showed great resilience and fully deserved to get back in the game and I don’t think anyone can say we didn’t deserve something from that game today. But you don’t always get what you deserve in football and unfortunately Cestria got the winner late on. We were disappointed not to come away with anything given the comeback from 2-0 down but we have to give credit to Cestria getting the winner.

“The same team beat us 6-1 before the Christmas break and so we can take great pride in the improvement and the progression we’ve made from working hard on the training pitch. We will continue to work hard and the girls are eager to get back to winning ways. Hopefully today’s performance can be a turning point, and we can kick on and finish the season strong.

“Lastly, with so many players unavailable this weekend for various reasons, it a was great to hand a debut to young U17s forward Izzy Walker, Izzy trained with us for the first time on Thursday night and didn’t look out of place at all. Izzy joined the club a couple of seasons ago and has been scoring regularly for our U17s Feethams side. 

“Izzy is now the 11th youth player in my time in charge to have played for the senior women’s team having pulled on the shirt at youth level. Once again, showing the pathway is there for the girls to step up and take their chance if an opportunity presents itself.”

 Darlington started the game on the back foot, with Cestria moving the ball well and having lots of possession. 

The Quakers defended well, staying compact and limiting Cestria to few opportunities. However, in the 17th minute, a powerful strike forced a save from Hannah Billingham at full stretch, but she could not keep hold of it and the Cestria forward capitalised and reacted first to make it 1-0. A few minutes later and Cestria had a second, another shot from distance and this time an unstoppable strike that Billingham could do nothing about. 

Two goals down after 20 minutes, the Quaker Women could have let their heads drop, but they did the exact opposite. They stuck to the game plan and defended well, knowing that chances would come on the counter. They continued to be threatening on the break and Lily Wilkinson had a couple of chances to get one back, but the Cestria goalkeeper was determined not to concede. 

Darlington started the better team in the second half and were able to play a little higher up the pitch and started to take a bit more control and pile on some pressure, asking questions of the Cestria defence. Chloe Ryan came the closest with a fantastic left footed shot that beat the keeper, but bounced wide off the post. Lana Williams then had a long range effort saved by the Cestria keeper which looked like it was heading straight for the top corner. 

Darlington kept pushing and were still in the game and were rewarded in the 66th minute when Chloe Ryan played the ball into the box and Ella Leach took the ball down extremely well and finished it on the volley to score her 7th goal of the season and get Darlo back in the game. The momentum swung in Darlington’s direction and Ava Pearson came close to an equaliser with a header from a corner from an excellent delivery from Dobson, which went agonisingly close and just over the bar. 

The Quaker women kept pushing and the deserved equaliser came in the 78th minute. Chloe Ryan on the swivel, with a great finish into the bottom corner. It set the game up for a great ending and it was an end to end last 10 minutes with both sides in search of a winner. Cestria were the team that found the winner for their 8th league win in a row. A corner in the 83rd minute that Darlington couldn’t clear and it ended up in the back of the net. Cestria got the win but were certainly made to work for it. 

A performance to be proud of from the Quaker Women and a performance that can be built on. Plenty of positives to take into next Sunday against Bishop Auckland. 

Player of the match was awarded to Lana Williams for a battling performance in centre midfield today. A good energetic performance, getting tackles in and organising well in the middle of the park. 

Thanks to everyone who came along to support, we appreciate your support. Thanks to Durham Cestria Reserves for the game and we wish you the best of luck for the remainder of the season