Stamford 1 Darlington 4

Stamford 1 Darlington 4

Quakers are now within four points of leaders Blyth with three games in hand after a very eventful victory at Stamford.

Kick off was delayed by 45 minutes because of an accident on the A1, and that prevented three players from getting to the ground in time – Kev Burgess, Tom Portas and Leon Scott – and so they had to be named as subs. All three had been delayed earlier because of work commitments.

Manager Martin Gray had to shuffle his players about, and would have been happy with a goalless score at half time, but in the second half the introduction of Burgess and Scott gave Quakers a more familiar shape and they picked up their 12^th away league win of the season.

Not surprisingly, with players out of position in the first half -- Adam Mitchell was at right back, Chris Hunter in the centre, Adam Nowakowski in centre midfield and Liam Hardy on the left -- it took Quakers quite a while to settle.

Nevertheless, Quakers didn’t take any risks in the opening stages and kept the game tight, and Stamford didn’t create their first chance until Jake Duffy turned and shot just wide midway through the first half.

Quakers nearly took the lead when Lee Gaskell threaded the ball through for Nathan Cartman, who turned well but shot just wide.

Liam Hardy, playing out on the left, then put another chance over the top.

Stamford hit back when Paul Malone headed a corner over the top from six yards, and just before half time Adam Nowakowski almost broke the deadlock, but Stamford keeper Paul Bastock saved well.

Considering the circumstances, Quakers were probably delighted to be goalless at half time.

Half time

Stamford 0 Darlington 0

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MG made two subs at half time, bringing off Adam Mitchell and Liam Hardy, and replacing them with Leon Scott and Kev Burgess.

Quakers had a penalty shout turned down when Lee Gaskell’s shot seemed to be blocked by a defender’s hand, but the referee waved play on.

But there was no doubt about Quakers’ opener on 60 minutes, when a free kick into the area caused chaos, a defender mishit his clearance, and the ball looped up in the air for Gary Brown to force home his third league goal of the season.

Four minutes later, Quakers had some breathing space when Nathan Cartman flicked on a Thompson corner for Terry Galbraith to superbly volley home at the far post, his seventh league goal of the season.

However, Stamford causes one or two missed beats when they pulled a goal back on 73 minutes, when Sam Hall scored from a corner.

But Quakers kept their composure, and they restored their two goal lead on 77 minutes when sub Graeme Armstrong headed home a Galbraith free kick for his 7^th league goal of the season.

And the points were assured with four minutes left, when Armstrong flicked the ball on for Nathan Cartman to run through and beat the advancing keeper from the edge of the box for his 15^th goal of the season.

Matchfacts:

Goals: Brown (60 mins, 0-1), Galbraith (64 mins, 0-2), Hall (73 mins, 1-2), Armstrong (77 mins, 1-3), Cartman (86 mins, 1-4)

Darlington:

Jameson, Hunter, Galbraith, Turnbull, Nowakowski, Brown, Mitchell (sub Scott 45), Hardy (sub Burgess 45), Gaskell, Cartman, Thompson (sub Armstrong 70)

Not used: Provett, Portas,

Booking: Brown (foul)

Stamford

Bastock, Hare, Luto, Malone, Hill, Hartley, J. Smith, S. Downey, G. Smith, J. Duffy, Wightwick

Not used: Challinor, Beeson, Newman, Rzonca, Lovelace (gk)

Booking: G Smith (foul)

Attendance 471