Hattie's hat trick gives Quakers victory over Gateshead
By Ray Simpson
Second placed club beaten
Darlington Women can still finish in the runners up spot after beating Gateshead thanks to a Hattie Raine hat trick at Eastbourne today.
Quakers have been missing chances in recent games, but Hattie Raine was clinical in front of goal with a hat trick to give Quakers a morale-boosting win ahead of the derby game against Darlington Spraire on Thursday.
Manager Shaun MacKenzie said; “I was delighted for the girls to get the win, it feels good to be back to winning ways and stop Gateshead in their title charge.
“Our performances have been good in recent weeks but we haven’t picked up points in some games that I feel we have deserved them. So it really does feel good to get the three points and it was a real team effort today.
“They all grafted hard for each other and I feel we fully deserved the victory. We have two games to go and can hopefully pick up maximum points and finish the season strongly. We are at Eastbourne midweek for our last game of the season and it would be great to see as many as possible down supporting. It’s a 7.30pm kick off on Thursday against Darlington Spraire Ladies.”
Here's the match report from Chris Barrett
Gateshead started quicker and were the first to get a shot away in the second minute but it was struck wide. This was quickly followed up by an effort from Darlington a minute later when the ball made its way through to Hattie Raine and she managed to lift the ball over the keeper but it was just wide.
Gateshead had an excellent chance a minute after this when the ball was played into the Darlington box which could not be held by Martina Cuccunato and the Gateshead midfielder looked to have a glorious opportunity for the lead but the ball was put wide.
It was a back and forth affair with both teams looking for the quick direct ball and it nearly paid off for Gateshead as they managed to break through the middle to get a strike on goal but it was lifted over.
After 16 minutes, Darlington got a good chance when the ball was played down the left to Raine but her shot was hit just over the bar. Again, soon after Darlington had another chance this time from Emma Doudican from the edge of the box but this time it pinged off the bar with an audacious effort on the volley.
The first goal was scored after 20 minutes when Darlington tried to counter on the left but the ball was won back by Gateshead who played a ball into the middle for the striker to take a solid touch forward and was able to finish cleanly in the bottom left hand corner.
The teams then struggled to create more openings with limited long range shots, the best of which came from Aimee Dagnall with the ball being pushed just round the post by the keeper. With the half reaching injury time, Darlington persisted and kept battling for the ball on the right hand side and managed to get the ball into the middle of the pitch with the ball being played by Doudican to Raine who turned towards goal and calmly slotted it in the bottom right to give Darlington an equaliser.
The second half Darlington came out strong trying to use the momentum from the ending of the first half and did manage to get a shot at goal from Raine but it was put over. Darlington continued to press but against the run of play Gateshead got another and were ahead again with the Gateshead striker beating the offside trap and then cutting back to wrong foot the defender to allow a free shot at goal which was duly despatched with power.
Undeterred Darlington reacted quick and within a minute were back on level terms with the ball again finding its way to Raine in the centre of the box and with her back to goal she managed to turn the defence and get a shot powered past the keeper for her second goal of the game.
The game returned to a midfield battle for possession and required a big effort from Toni Upton and Aimee Dagnall to keep the team strong which was benefited from the fresh legs of Lacey Baldwin who came on at half time to carry on the sterling work of Katie Sheridan in the first half.
Although Gateshead were looking to build some good attacks down the right they were well defended by Natalie Peart and Alice Wearmouth on that side.
On 82 minutes a goal kick from Ellen Atkinson was flicked on to Raine who found the gap through the middle and had good pace to beat the defender, she got the key touch to take it around the keeper, it was a wide angle but she cut back on her right and fired it past the defenders on the line to give Darlington a late lead and grab her hat-rick.
The defence stayed strong and the team kept together, they remained resolute in the final minutes to get to the full time whistle and got what must be considered an overdue win against a top team.
This was the best performance in recent weeks from Darlington and player of the match had to go to hat trick hero Hattie Raine (kit sponsored by Krystal Sells) whose clinical finishing helped make the difference. Darlington will be back out on Thursday night at home to Spraire Ladies looking to carry on this form and finish the season strong.
STARTING XI
1: Cuccunato,
11: Bright,
19: Large,
5: Wearmouth,
13: Peart,
3: Carter,
7: Baldwin
10: Upton (c),
20: Sheridan,
8: Doudican,
9: Raine,
Substitutes: Atkinson, Garnett, Paduriaru, Dagnall, Whitworth, Frew and Tinkler
Here's the league table
We'd like to thank our kit sponsors:
Hattie Raine (sponsored by Krystal Sells), Emma Carter (The Cheese and Wine Shop), Emma Doudican (Winroths Hairdressers), Sarah Frew (Chic Beauty Academy), Martina Cuccunato (Premier 1 Filtration), Caisey Lee (Engage to Learn), Olivia Whitworth (Terry Farley MBE), Natalie Peart (RA Dalton Ltd), Toni Upton (Dawn Fire Safety), Alice Wearmouth (Direct Flooring), Chloe Bright (Jordan Hanratty Personal Training), Chloe Tinkler (Glen and Mary Bowes), Millie Garnett (eco Hair Salon), Aimee Dagnall (Andrew Scullion), Gabrielle Padurianu (John Vickerman), Lily Large (Arthur Wharton Foundation), Katie Sheridan (Arthur Wharton Foundation)
