Leamington 3 Darlington 0

Edwards 16 mins, 1-0, Mace 57 mins 2-0, Carline 76 mins, 3-0

There was no happy return to Leamington for Quakers because they were beaten 3-0 at the Phillips 66 Stadium.

Quakers won there in the FA Cup, but it was tough going after Leamington took an early lead.

Stephen Thompson started out on the left, with Adam Campbell playing up top.

Leamington had the first chance of the game, when a left wing cross by Dexter Walters was nodded down for Josh March to fire over the top then Stephan Morley fired high and wide after a long throw was cleared to him 30 yards out.

Then Jack Lane headed an inswinging corner by Walters against his own man for a goal kick.

Quakers were just getting into the game and starting to pose problems when the home side took the lead on 16 minutes. A simple clearance by Junior English up the right hand side bounced in the Quakers penalty area, and Jack Edwards got to the ball ahead of Chris Elliott, and headed over him into the net.

Quakers gained their first corner on 21 minutes, but Jarrett Rivers’ setpiece was headed away at the near post.

Quakers showed plenty of purpose and energy to get back into the game, but they couldn’t make much of an impression in the Leamington penalty area.

They were nearly gifted a breakthrough when a weak backpass nearly let Adam Campbell in, but Jake Weaver just managed to clear.

Leamington nearly made it 2 just on half time when Callum Maycock broke into the box, but Elliott did well to block his shot with his legs.

The home side had the first chance of the second half when Carline found March down the right, but the striker’s low shot from a tight angle was easily saved by Elliott.

Quakers went 2-0 down on 57 minutes. Edwards had a shot on the turn from a Walters corner charged down, and the ball ran loose for James Mack to force over the line.

Walters nearly got a third, when he cut in from the left and hit a right foot shot that struck the bar.

Campbell turned well inside the box, but had a right foot shot blocked as Quakers tried to get back into the game.

Leamington continued to pose problems with their height, and another corner by Walters saw Mace have a header cleared off the line by Watson.

After Thompson was just off target with a long range shot from out on the right, Leamington got their third when Walters sprinted up the left and crossed perfectly for Carline to sidefoot home.

final Leamington 3 Darlington 0

Darlington: Elliott, Hedley, Storey, Galbraith, Watson, Wheatley (sub Bascome 71), Hatfield (sub Lambert 71), Holness (sub Donawa 62), Rivers, Campbell, Thompson

Subs: Holliday,

Leamington: Weaver, English (sub Dunbar 85), Morley, Maycock, Mace, Lane, Carline, Clarke, March, Edwards (sub Gittings 81), Walters

Subs: Murphy, Anderson, Taylor