Our under 23s were beaten by the weather and Ferryhill Athletic in the Clem Smith Bowl on Saturday.

Because the game was played on 3G at the Eastbourne Complex, it managed to go ahead, but the wet and windy conditions were difficult for both teams.

Manager Grant Cuthbertson said; “A spirited performance from the lads but unfortunately ended in defeat from a game we dominated. We just made the wrong decisions when our moments came.”

Ferryhill are from the same division as ourselves, and are also in the promotion picture.

The game started fairly even with both teams remaining resilient in defence. Darlington started to settle down and started to dominate the play and a speculative shot from outside the box was not held by the Ferryhill goalkeeper into the path of Olly Walters who made it 1-0 to the Under 23s. Weather made a constant effect on the game and switching off defending a corner made it 1-1. This was the theme of the second half with both teams switching off and making the wrong decisions when it mattered. Will Maddison scored to keep us in the game, but a couple of injuries forced a formation change and unfortunately in the dying moments Ferryhill scored a winner to make it 2-3.

Their next game is at Coundon Cons in the Wearside League second division this Saturday.