Our Under 23s played their first ever match in the Wearside League, and a great first half hat trick from Matthew Kiro earned them a 3-2 home win over Easington Lane.

The lads, who only came together as a team during the summer, bounced back from an early goal down to lead at half time, and then held on in a sometimes bad-tempered second half for the points.

Matthew, believe it or not, is travelling up from London to play!

Manager Grant Cuthbertson said; “We’re overwhelmed at the result and glad to be playing competitively. It was a good hat trick by Matthew considering that he comes up from London to play which is a great attitude. He totally understands the footballing journey and has belief in our project.  Unfortunately, we will miss him for three matches due to discipline.

“We need to be better at individual discipline but that’s why we have a squad which I have no doubt will step up for our game this Wednesday.”

Here's the match report by Dan Summerfield:

The game started off with some standard league opener nerves, but a dominant performance by Darlington. Jack Mortimer and Kiro kept constant pressure on the Easington centre backs making them uncomfortable but it was a pass in behind our defence and a whipped ball across for a simple finish that gave Easington the lead. Reaction was the buzz word as the boys from kick off kept the ball well, worked it up the pitch and Kiro got his first goal of the season after some sharp passing play.

The boys were at the double quickly, as Mortimer and Kiro continued to press from the front getting right on top of the keeper, forcing an error and Kiro got the tap in. The boys continued to control from the midfield with Will Maddison and Ollie Walters controlling the game and strong overlaps from Ethan Cuthbertson and Harry Butters on the wing.

Off the back of a great save by Liam Mason, the boys kept the ball on the floor and counter-attacked quickly, moving the ball across the pitch at speed from one man to the next until the ball ended up with Kiro, who rounded the keeper to complete a first half hattrick. A brilliant counter starting from our own box and ending up in the back of the net.

Halftime 3-1 Darlington.

Second half kicked off with the squad as is and keeping the shape the same, but a little bit of rhythm was lost as tempers flared on both sides. Mason made a great save with his leg and after working it up the pitch shortly after coming on Alfie Fawcett whipped a ball to Cuthbertson who almost buried it for our fourth.

The issues blew over after Darlington continued to rattle their defence and amongst a mess of players and shouting, four red cards were dished out, two for both teams. The game lost its flow being 9v9 and became a scrappy affair, a good test for the boys to see the game out. Easington with a freekick on the edge of the box led to a scramble and the ball found its way into the net. But the boys held on for victory.

Thank you to all fans who came to the game, and thank you to Kim Hollins for the pictures. Thank you to our sponsors Lyons Watson, Ann Cordey Estate Agents, LCM Group, Pyramid Door Specialists and Easyprep.

Team:

GK Liam Mason
CB: Owen Smith

CB: Thomas Southwood

CB: Alfie Robinson
LM: Harry Butters

CDM: Ollie Walters

RM: Ethan Cuthbertson
CM: Toby Sparrow

CM: Will Maddison

ST: Matthiew Kiro

ST: Jack Mortimer

SUB: Dylan Jackson, Alfie Fawcett, Jake Patterson, Harvey Hinckes, Calum Whitfield

The Under 23s next game is at home to Wolviston Reserves on Wednesday night, kick off 7pm.