Darlington had to settle for a point against Stockton in a 3-3 draw at Eastbourne Community Stadium.

Quakers were 3-1 up at one point with goals by Hattie Raine (2) and Nicole Graham, but the visitors hit back in the last ten minutes for a point.

Manager Shaun MacKenzie said; “I can’t take anything away from the girls, every single one of them put a shift in and they were outstanding in the first half. We played some great football and our recovery off the ball and shape out of possession was very good today. We reacted well to going a goal behind and got straight back in the game. We scored another two good goals and fully deserved the lead at half time.

“We are obviously disappointed that we haven’t took the three points and it almost feels like a loss, conceding two goals in the last ten minutes but that’s football. I felt we were managing the game well and were comfortable but goals change games. And once Stockton got their second, we got a bit nervy and the equaliser was coming. We will learn from it and there are plenty of positives to take from the game. We will continue to work on a few things in training and go again next weekend in the League Cup Quarter Final.”

Here's the match report by Chris Barrett:

Darlington pressed the game hard from the start and were keeping Stockton in their half but were always a threat in the transition. There was an opportunity for Darlington after 13 minutes when Nicole Graham drove through the middle to play the ball into the right hand side of the box but the shot from Hattie Raine was pulled just wide. 

After 24 minutes and against the run of play Stockton worked the ball up the pitch and the Stockton striker was given too much space just outside the box giving her the opportunity to strike and hit a great shot over Evie Whitaker and put Stockton ahead. 

Two minutes later some good build up play from Darlington through the middle worked the ball to Chloe Ryan who played the ball in the box down the right hand side into Hattie Raine and this time she made no mistake in striking the ball into the bottom left hand corner for the equaliser to make it 1-1.

It was another two minutes later when Krista Williams made a strong run through the middle and was brought down just outside the box to win Darlington a free kick just to the left of the centre of the goal. It was Hattie Raine who stepped up and delightfully struck the ball over the wall and into the left hand side of the goal past the keeper to give Darlington a 2-1 lead.

After 35 minutes Darlington won a throw in on the left. Chloe Bright found Nicole Graham who drove inside and from distance hit a wonderful strike into the top right hand corner of the goal to make it three for Darlington. Just before the half ended Stockton managed to bustle through the defence and it took a brave block from Evie Whitaker to block the shot from close range to keep the score 3-1 at half time. 

The second half was a tight affair with Lana Williams and Ava Pearson cutting out a number of attacks and building play from the back. There were a number of key saves also from Whitaker who kept the ball well from a number of good strikes.

After 82 minutes a contentious free kick was awarded to Stockton just outside of the Darlington box and Darlington were punished when the free kick was struck over the wall into the top left of the goal. 

It was only three minutes later when Stockton were able to break down the right and pull the ball across goal. It couldn’t be cleared and landed at the feet of the Stockton striker who poked it past the keeper for the equaliser. 

It was a bitter blow as Darlington had looked to be in control of the game and they could not get another goal before the match closed out for the draw. 

Although it was a good point against a strong Stockton team it felt like two points dropped due to the lateness of the goals conceded and Darlington will now need to make up for the missed opportunity in the return fixture.

There were a number of strong performances with the superb goals from Raine and Graham but player of the match was awarded to Lana Williams who on her full debut beyond her years with a mature performance winning numerous battles stopping one of the best attacks in the league.