2-0 victory over Redcar Town
Darlington Women 2 Redcar Town 0
Goals from Annie Anderson and Hattie Raine gave Quakers a great 2-0 home win over Redcar Town yesterday and pushed them up to eighth in the table.
Manager Shaun MacKenzie said; “We’re delighted to get the three points today, they’ve been coming for a few weeks so it was important we put a performance in today and come away with the win. We should have probably took all three against Hartlepool and we could have nicked the win last week against Norton so I’m very pleased we have followed up those two draws with a win.
“I thought everyone was superb today, right from the first whistle. I rewarded a few of the girls with a start after last week’s second half performance and they’ve come in and took their opportunity. We looked dangerous going forward but also kept our shape well out of possession and keeper Amélie Crumpton and the back four were excellent today and dealt well with a very good Redcar front line.
“It was really glad for Hattie to get the winning goal after not scoring in the last three and that will do her the world of good. She started the season on fire but the more games that go by without a goal, the more frustrating it gets for a striker. So hopefully she picks up from where she left off in September after earning Player of the Month for a brilliant start to the season. Annie Anderson was fantastic again on her full debut, took her goal extremely well and she’s already shown in the two games she’s played that she’s going to be a handful for any defence in this league.
“A week off in the league next weekend as we travel to Birtley in the County Cup. With Birtley playing a league higher and currently top of the league, it’s almost a free hit. We look forward to going and testing ourselves against who we know are a top, top side.”
Both teams struggled to maintain possession in the first 15 minutes of the game but Darlington started to create chances and put some pressure on a strong Redcar side. The Quakers were rewarded just before the half hour mark when Nicole Graham kept the play alive and delivered a great ball into the box with her left foot, Annie Anderson watched the ball bounce and struck it on the half volley to score on her full debut and make it 2 goals in 2 since signing for the club.
Redcar grew into the first half and had chances of their own. Darlington defending well and Amélie Crumpton pulling of a great save with her foot to keep the Quakers ahead at 1-0. Redcar had more of the possession as the half drew to a close but Darlington managed to get to half time with the lead.
The second half became more physical as Darlington looked to add a second and Redcar were searching for the equaliser. It was Darlington who got the second goal at a crucial time in the game. Nicole Graham with another left footed assist and Hattie Raine through one on one with the keeper made no mistake and put it away for her 8th goal of the season with about 12 minutes to go. Darlington then managed the game well and saw the game out for an all important 3 points and a third clean sheet of the season in all competitions. The win takes them up to 8th in the league table with 2 games in hand on some of the teams above.
Player of the Match was chosen by our match sponsor today, Masfix and was awarded to Hattie Raine. An overall good performance, holding the ball up, always threatening and winning the battle against a solid Redcar defence.
Many thanks to Redcar Town Ladies for the game and good luck for the rest of the season.
Here's the league table
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