Darlington Women went out of the County Cup at Chester-le-Street on Sunday afternoon.

Chester play in a league that is two steps higher and that difference showed at times, but Quakers kept going right to the end, and will be better for the experience, despite the 12-0 scoreline.

Manager Shaun MacKenzie said; “I feel a bit for the girls and the scoreline definitely doesn’t really reflect the effort and desire that was shown on the pitch. We had a few key players missing and that’s never ideal in such a big game, but fair play to Chester Le Street who are still unbeaten this season and have now scored over 100 goals this season. They beat Harrogate a few weeks ago by the same scoreline and they are in the same division. 

“I am proud of the girls for getting to the semi final of the County Cup and the main thing is we showed up. I’ve seen lots of teams forfeit games this season when drawn against higher opposition and teams even forfeit games in the same league! We are better than that and always want to test ourselves, we will improve by playing the better teams higher up the pyramid and we’ve learnt a lot. We now pick ourselves up and go again in the league, where we still have 11 games to play with the next game on Sunday 5th March at home to Boldon Ladies.”

Here's the match report from Chris Barrett

Darlington were slow out of the blocks and were behind within the first 2 minutes with Chester-Le-Street playing the ball down the right and driving to the goal line before playing it in. It managed to make its way across the box and was finished from close range. This was an indication of how the game would go for Darlington as they were up against a side who were there to show their pedigree and grab the place in the final.

After the first goal Darlington did manage to stay in the game for a good period with Chloe Ryan playing a quality ball from the right into Nicole Graham but it was just snatched by the toes of the Chester-Le-Street defender. The strong hands of Ellen Atkinson were required when a shot was taken from the edge of the box but it was smartly pushed away. Darlington were conceding a large amount of corners and were eventually undone in the 17th minute when a corner was headed on to the back post for the ball to be picked up at the back post and then struck back into the top corner.

There was another a couple of minutes later with a nice flick down the right creating the space for it to again be pulled back and then duly despatched into the net.

Darlington didn’t give up and continued to press and there was a half chance for Hattie Raine after the press from Graham and the interception by Raine but the shot was struck wide. It was harsh on Darlington to concede again on the 41st minute and then the 44th minute to go into half time 5-0 down.

In the second half Darlington managed to hold out a little longer than the 1st with some good footwork from Sara Waites engineering some space to get a shot on goal which was well saved by the keeper.

On the 51st minute Darlington were undone with a tight offside call not going there way and it began a flurry of quick goals conceding also on the 57th and 59th minute including a penalty for an unfortunate clip in the box when trying to get the ball out.

Darlington had another solid 15 minute period but when they conceded on the 74th minute it started another tough period where they conceded the 9th 10th and 11 goals in a short space of time.

The final goal came from a corner which was played to the back of the box and volleyed first time for a lovely finish to end the scoring. Darlingtons players showed great character and can be proud of their cup runs this seasons only being stopped by teams in much higher divisions than themselves. 

There were a number of good performances including young Millie Soderman who was brave in her tackles and made her presence felt on the pitch when coming on at half time. Darlington will hopefully have a number of players returning soon and will now be able to get some league games played with so many games in hand due to their successsful cup runs in the FA Cup and the County Cup this season.

We'd like to thank the following kit sponsors:

Ellen Atkinson:

Home: LW & GM Atkinsons & Son

Away: Harker Coaches

Evie Whittaker: 

Home: Steve Halliday

Away: Premier One Filtration

Emma Carter:

Home: Direct Flooring 

Away: SMS Tech (Smart Manufacturing Solutions Technology)

Alice Wearmouth:

Home: Direct Flooring 

Away: SMS Tech (Smart Manufacturing Solutions Technology) 

Lou Brown:

Home: Saddington Taylor LTD

Away: vacant

Gabi Paduriaru:

Home: David Stothard

Away: Colin Bromley

Millie Garnett:

Home: Eco Hair Salon

Away: Phil's Fine Finishes

Lily Large:

Home: Arthur Wharton Foundation  

Away: Vacant 

Chloe Tinkler: 

Home: Steve Halliday

Away: Brinkburn Pub

Chloe Bright: 

Home: Jordan Hanratty Personal Training 

Away: Active Kids Play Scheme

Toni Upton

Home: Dawn Fire Safety 

Away: Dawn Fire Safety

Emma Doudican 

Home: Winroths Hairdressing  

Away: Winroths Hairdressing 

Olivia Whitworth

Home: Terry Farley MBE

Away: Vacant 

Aimee Dagnall 

Home: Andrew Scullion

Away: Vacant

Hattie Raine: 

Home: Thomas Watson Auctioneers 

Away: Thomas Watson Auctioneers 

Katie Sheridan: 

Home: Arthur Wharton Foundation 

Away: Ingleton Site Management LTD

Lacey Baldwin: 

Home: Lineside Fencing NE Ltd 

Away: Lineside Fencing NE Ltd 

Chloe Ryan: 

Home: Arthur Wharton Foundation

Away: The Little Quaker Distillery 

Nicole Graham

Home: Stuart Shanks Painting and Decorating

Away: Stuart Shanks Painting and Decorating

Management team:

Shaun Mackenzie training kit: John Vickerman

Assistant manager training kit: NC Group LTD

Dan Lupu training kit: Vacant

Chris Barrett training kit: Vacant