Darlington Women ran up double figures again when they thumped Richmond 13-3 on Tuesday night.

Sophie Curle was on top form, scoring seven, with four other players chipping in.

Manager Shaun MacKenzie said; “I was pleased with the performance once we got going, we started the game slow and took a bit of time to get used to the wet conditions, but we adapted well and still played some good football.

“Sophie was unstoppable and when she’s on form like that, I almost feel a little bit sorry for the opposition. Everyone got minutes and I thought everyone did well, a few came on in the second half with a point to prove and Katie Sheridan never stopped working, she deserved her goals. We are shaping up well and look forward to a good test on Sunday against Spennymoor.”

Match report: Written by Chris Barrett 

Richmond Town FC Women 3 Darlington FC Women 13

The game started a fairly even contest with both teams trying to get a feel for the ball on the slippery surface and neither team getting any clear chances, but Ellen Atkinson was required to deal with an early free kick for Richmond.

It took until the 18th minute to get the first goal and it was Darlington who broke the deadlock with the ball played through the middle and with a touch from Hattie Raine, the ball dropped to Sophie Curle who took control of the ball and poked it past the keeper with a perfect timed finish.

Two minutes later the lead was doubled with Garnett again playing the ball through the middle to Curle who calmly placed it in the bottom left corner.

It was again two minutes before Darlington added to the lead with Toni Upton this time playing in Hattie Raine, again through the middle who then took advantage of the surface to strike low past the keeper.

Richmond got a good chance on 28 minutes with a free kick from the left-hand side floated high into the box, but it was well punched away by Atkinson.

It was however a free kick that got Richmond their first goal of the game. Again, it was played in from the left-hand side and the bounce in the box evaded everyone and dropped into the net.

It wasn’t long before Darlington got another goal with Nicole Graham breaking down the right and whipping the ball across with Curle flicking the ball on to Emma Doudican at the back post who set the ball and fired it back across goal into the top corner. It was 5 on 44 minutes when Hattie Raine gathered the ball in the centre of the park and again broke through the centre and outpaced the defence before calmly dribbling the ball around the keeper and slotting it in the net with great composure.

Against the run of play Richmond got another when the ball was played over the top and about to be cleared by Lily Large before she was pushed in the back, but no foul was given, and Richmond took advantage of the opportunity to make it 5-2 at half time.

The second half started with a number of changes for Darlington, but they carried on their good form and it only took until the 49th minute for Curle to get another. This time it was from a free kick which she won on the edge of the box and duly dispatched into the top right-hand corner, giving the keeper no chance with an unbelievable finish. 

This was swiftly followed up with another for Curle who again broke from the middle, and it was a low left foot finish to add another to her already impressive tally.

The eighth goal was more of a speculative effort from Curle when the ball was played to her from Lacey Baldwin, it was a chance shot that the keeper could not deal with and it slipped past her to bounce into the net.  

It was Richmond who got the next goal with the ball being played through and with the conditions making it difficult to control and clear the ball which was bundled through, and Richmond took advantage to score their third.

Five minutes later, Darlington were back on the scoresheet when Curle was fouled in the box, and she got up to take the penalty and put it into the bottom corner.

Darlington reached double figures with Curle this time being the creator dribbling the ball down the right-hand side and shooting at goal with the resulting block bouncing out and landing at the feet of Katie Sheridan who got over the ball to fire home.

On 79 minutes, it was eleven with Doudican getting the assist for a long-range goal from Curle taking her tally to seven for the evening.  It was twelve with Graham forcing the keeper into a save but Sheridan was again there for the follow up and she picked her spot for her brace.

As full time was looming it was a case of saving the best until last when Lacey Baldwin picked up the ball in the centre of the park and after carrying the ball forward, she struck the from distance and the ball flew past the keeper to complete the scoring and allowing Baldwin to express her delight in true Chloe Kelly style.

It was a good game for the players to get some game time on grass with the difficult conditions and all players getting more minutes in pre-season whilst the management team were able to experiment with a number of formations and players testing themselves in a number of positions. 

Player of the match of course went to Sophie Curle with her terrific seventh heaven goal feet. Sponsored by Arthur Taylor Carpet Fitting Services and Raisco Limited.

There were a number of other strong performances with Lily Large performing well at the back using her pace to cut out a number of through balls alongside Emma Carter at left back who time and again managed to get the ball down and help build play from the back.

We’d like to thank our kit sponsors:

We'd like to thank the following sponsors: 

Martina Cuccunato: 

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Ellen Atkinson:

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Evie Whittaker: 

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Emma Carter:

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Alice Wearmouth:

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Lou Brown:

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Sarah Frew:

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Gabi Paduriaru:

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Millie Garnett:

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Lily Large:

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Chloe Tinkler: 

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Chloe Bright: 

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Toni Upton

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Emma Doudican 

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Olivia Whitworth

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Aimee Dagnall 

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Hattie Raine: 

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Katie Sheridan: 

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Sophie Curle: 

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Lacey Baldwin: 

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Chloe Ryan: 

Home: Arthur Wharton Foundation

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Caisey Lee

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Nicole Graham

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Management team:

Shaun Mackenzie training kit: John Vickerman

Sam Pascoe training kit: NC Group LTD

Dan Lupu training kit: Vacant

Chris Barrett training kit: Vacant