Darlington Women won their first game in the North East Regional League when they beat Washington 5-3 on Sunday.

Quakers blew Washington away in the first half and scored five goals with some great football.

Darlington manager Shaun MacKenzie said; “I am delighted with the win and to get our first points at this level. It’s always important to get some points on the board early on and then try and build some momentum from there. We are obviously disappointed with the second half and the two goals we conceded, we could have managed the game better but we got what we came for and that was the 3 points.

“If we can score five goals in the first half every game then I think we will be ok. We’ve got to be more solid in the transition and stop conceding soft goals but we are improving and we go again in a couple of weeks.

“Unfortunately we have no game this Sunday as Stockton are still in the FA Cup, we wish them the best of luck against Leeds United. That means we have to wait another week for our first home game of the season in the league. We welcome Gateshead Rutherford to Eastbourne on Sunday 11th and we will be putting the graft in at training over the next fortnight to be as well prepared as we can be for the next game. It would be good to have your support and another big crowd at Eastbourne.”

The game started off frantically with both teams looking to stamp their mark on the game. It was Darlington who found themselves in front with Ella Leach opening the scoring on the 8th minute mark, after a good delivery from Leanne Clennett. Washington equalised on the 15th minute and brought the game level. A good intensity to the game for the first 15 minutes but a tempo that neither team could keep up. 

The game settled down after a quarter of an hour and both teams looked to start playing football. On the 20th minute, Hattie Raine was on the scoresheet to put Darlington ahead. Washington were competing and always in the game, but with 5 minutes to go in the first half, Darlington scored 3 quick goals to take a 5-1 lead.

The first a brilliant effort from Lily Wilkinson, a good ball from Raine, saw Wilkinson take an excellent first touch out of her feet and hit it just inside the box. The Washington keeper got a hand to it but couldn’t keep it out of the net. 

Four minutes later, it was Chloe Bright’s turn to get in on the scoring and open her account for the season. A good press from Darlington saw Bright win the ball back and then overlap Wilkinson who found her with a pass that the keeper couldn’t reach and Bright was there to tap home into an empty net. 

One minute later and Darlington had a 5th, another good delivery from a free kick, found Alice Wearmouth who got something on it and it fell nicely to Hattie Raine, who sorted out her feet and passed it in the net to give Darlington a 4 goal advantage and get her second of the game.

A game of two halves and Washington upped their game in the second half. Darlington playing against the wind might have played a factor and Washington kept coming. Darlington always looked like they would win the game with a 4-goal cushion but a goal for Washington on the 68th minute with plenty of time to go spurred them on. 

Darlo struggled to regain control of the game and Washington got another goal to make it 5-3 with 5 minutes to go. In the end, Darlington did manage the last part of the game well and took home a deserved 3 points for a good first half performance. 

Player of the Match was awarded to captain Aimee Dagnall, plenty of hard yards, organising, communicating and instrumental in both attack and defence, winning many first balls in the centre of the park. Well done Aimee.

Many thanks to Washington FC Ladies for the game. Good luck for the rest of the season.

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