Darlington Women conceded four second half goals against Gateshead Rutherford and suffered their second league defeat of the season.

They were level at half time, but their level of performance dropped in the second.

Manager Shaun MacKenzie said; “A bad day at the office today unfortunately. Sometimes you get those days and you’ve just got to put it behind you and move on quickly. We will obviously address the second half performance but will straight away be looking to next weekend.s game away at Hartlepool.

“We were in the game in the first half and played some ok football, but the overall performance fell short of the standard the players have set themselves in recent games. I think their third goal summed up our day, a clearance by us hitting one of our own players and then falling straight to the feet of a Rutherford player to finish off.

“Take nothing away from Rutherford, who are a well drilled side and have had a year of adjusting to the higher level and deserved the points today. We can take a few positives from the game and look forward to the next one. I thought Amélie Crumpton had a superb game in her first league start and deserved player of the match. And although we didn’t score, we still created chances, particularly in the first half and we’ve just got to put things right next week and react to the loss.”

An even affair in the first half with both teams having chances but nothing clear cut, Darlington coming the closest to scoring with Lily Wilkinson hitting the crossbar and Hattie Raine striking the post direct from a corner. Rutherford had a great chance to go 1-0 up with a 1v1 but Amélie Crumpton made a great save with her legs to keep the scores level at the break. 

The game was there for either side to win and it was Rutherford who deserved the points in the second half. A cagey first 15 minutes saw Rutherford go 1-0 up and then be reduced to 10 players just after the hour mark. The sending off seemed to give Rutherford the lift rather than Darlington and they added a second after 66 minutes with Darlington searching for the equaliser. A further 2 goals in the 84th and 85th minutes sealed the points for Rutherford and it was just not Darlington’s day. 

Player of the match chosen by match sponsor, The Darl Knight was awarded to Amélie Crumpton on her first start in the league. A great save in the first half to keep the score level and some good reactions from some good set piece deliveries from Rutherford.

Thankyou to Gateshead Rutherford for the game. Good luck for the rest of the season and we will see you in the return fixture.

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