Here's a round up of how our youth teams fared last weekend in the Russell Foster Youth League and the Teesside Junior Football Alliance League.

Because of FA rules, we're unable to publish the results of any matches involving Under 11s and below.

Saturday 26th November 2022:

RFYL Girls U11 Cup:

Roseberry Park FC Vs. Darlington FC Quakers 

POTM: TK

Team Coach Jamie Miller said; "The game started at a blistering pace with some quality passing and equally good finishing. It was total football today, pass move and finish. Great to watch against a brand new side in Roseberry Park who ended up with 13 players on the pitch as the girls were scoring at will. A couple of first for the girls today a couple scored their very 1st goals for the team. Well done girls!".

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RFYL Boys U10 Premier Division: 

Darlington FC Quakers Vs. Darlington FC Feethams 

DFC Quakers goalscorers: JN9 (2), FC10 (2) & JJ11 (2)

DFC Feethams goalscorers: HD & SA

DFC Quakers Team Coach Sam Pascoe said; "A very enjoyable game to watch between two good sides. The Quaker boys started strong and took an early lead. JJ10 hit a well struck shot which was parried by the Feethams keeper into the path of FC10 who took his shot early with his left foot past the Feethams keeper. Shortly after this, we doubled our lead through a low driven shot from JJ11. The Feethams lads grew into the game and started to put a lot of pressure on our defence and it was only a matter of time before they scored. This goal came after a shot from distance was parried by our keeper and the Feethams forward reacted the quickest to score. At half time, we told our lads that they needed to move the ball around a lot faster and in they took this on board very well, scoring some lovely worked team goals in the second half. Credit to the Feethams boys who gave us a very tough game today, a very physically strong team that played some great quick flowing football and were very dangerous on the counter attack. Darlington FC Youth has two fantastic sides representing them in the u10s RFYL Premier Division!".

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DFC Feethams Team Coach David Boardman said; "Great game of football was played by both sides today & it was a joy to be involved with it. Quakers started strongly and imposed themselves on the game and I felt Feethams boys gave a little bit too much respect to the Quakers to start with and the Quakers took a 2 goal lead. After this, we began to get a hold of the game and deservedly scored one through our captain HD and then we were unlucky not to capitalise on another couple of opportunities. In the second half we started in the same intensity and and we had one cleared of the line. The Quakers then were able to grab a third and I was a little worried our heads may drop but we came back and got a second through our centre forward SA. At this point the next goal was going to be defining and the Quakers class shone through and they grabbed the 4th with a well worked team goal. After this, due to the efforts we put in our boys tired slightly and the Quakers scored a further 2, which meant the scoreline didn’t reflect what was a closely fought game between two quality sides. Today showed that Darlington FC are doing things right with the youth football. Tip my hat to the Quakers, who for me are the best side in the region outside the main pro academies!".

Sunday 27th November 2022:

TJFA Boys U7 Argentina Division: 

Darlington FC Vs. Leven FC 

POTM: RD

Goalscorers: OR & OM

Team Coach Wayne Rudd said; "U7's had a tough game today against a excellent Leven side. The boys battled well and scored a couple of good goals from OR and OM".

TJFA Boys U9 League Cup: 

Darlington FC Vs. Leven

Team Coach Paul Robertson said; "The lads weren't quite on their game today but managed to still get the result to get into the next round of the cup".

TJFA Boys U10 League Cup:

POTM: NH 

Goalscorers: SB

Team Coach Chris Blewitt said: "A battling performance from the boys today saw them come away with a deserved result on penalties. A scrappy first half in which Boro Rangers dug in deep and had their goalkeeper to thank for a string of excellent saves saw the game tied at 0-0. The boys knew if they kept playing as they were a goal would come and it did with seconds on the clock after the restart, a great team press saw JB harry the defender who’s panicked clearance went straight to JW who only had the goalkeeper to beat, duly obliging and slotting the ball in to the bottom corner. The game continued in the same vein with Darlington attacking but lacking the final ball to find the 2nd and Boro Rangers making a number of good challenges and some more great saves to keep the deficit at 1. Unfortunately with 10 to go a long ball from Boro Rangers in behind forced a corner which they than scored from after a bit of pinball in the box. That’s how the game finished up and penalties was the way the game was to be decided. Boro Rangers went first and NH got down well to tip the ball onto the post and clear, SB stepped up and blasted the ball into the roof of the net before NH made another smart save from Boro Rangers to leave JB with the chance to win it for Darlington, he took that chance with aplomb and found the top corner leaving the Boro Rangers keeper with no chance".

TJFA Boys U11 League Cup:

Boro Rangers Girls Vs. Darlington FC Quakers

POTM: GL

Goalscorers: LN (3), MT & OR

Team Coach Scott Mallen said; "The game kicked off and Boro Rangers were straight onto the attack, with Darlington a bit hesitant putting in the tackles and closing the ball down. Three minutes in Boro scored a screamer from 25 yards straight into top corner with the keeper not having a chance to save it Darlington found themselves a goal down. Eight minutes into the first half a brilliant through ball caught Boro off guard after a quality solo run from a Darlington player, this found it's way to our striker, who calmly slotted it through the keepers legs into the back of the net pulling the score back square. As the first half went on Darlington found themselves a goal down again after some sloppy defending and not clearing the ball, the Boro player tapped the ball into the net making the score 2-1 in the first half. Second half kicked off and with the Darlington players playing a lot better football a few minutes in, a long ball down the wing found it land at a Darlington player's feet who cut inside and struck the ball into the roof of the net giving the keeper no chance, this again brought the score level. A couple minutes later a long ball from a Darlington was unfortunately missed by the Boro player and this led to the Darlington player free to brake on the attack with only having the keeper to beat he took it around the keeper and side footed it into the back of the net making Darlington go ahead for the first time in the game. Darlington pressed straight away with an amazing run from our defender who took on the Boro players down the wing and crossed superbly into the box to find the Darlington striker who volleyed it straight into the back of the net. This gave Darlington a bit of breathing space with a two goal advantage which was needed to relax the players and start to play some fast flowing football. With the game coming to a close Boro tried to take a short goal kick only to be picked out by our striker who slotted it into the back of the net. Credit to the Boro Rangers team, who gave a brilliant performance and made hard work for the Darlington players".

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TJFA Boys U11 Challenge Cup

Chilton Juniors FC Darlington FC Feethams

Goalscorers: KH (4), LE (3), TO (2), FR & MD

Team Coach Paul Orton said; "Given the heavy rain we’ve endured over the last week or two we were happy to get the game played. To do this, we had to reverse the fixture. We’d like to thank our opponents for hosting the game and accommodating us at late notice. We were keen to put some of our training practices into action today, the boys took that notion on board and they went into the game with a positive mindset. We played some very good football. Our weight of pass was key as the sticky pitch conditions meant the ball was holding up. In order for us to keep the ball moving quickly we had to be firm and diligent with our passing. We did this very well which helped us create good spaces to attack. This left the opposition helpless at times. Good movement and execution of final pass resulted in us having multiple opportunities to score. The opposition showed good endeavour and willingness to get on the ball but it wasn’t quite enough for them today. We now progress to the next stage of the cup and the boys come away with a state of optimism going into our next cluster of fixtures".

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TJFA Boys U16 Division: 

Nunthorpe FC 2-5 Darlington FC

POTM: Lennon Harland

Goalscorers: Lennon Harland (3), Ethan Mcloughlin & Rueben Scotter

Team Coach Dan Hook said; "Darlington traveled to Nunthorpe with a strong squad ready to continue their current impressive form. After only 3 minutes, Lennon Harland put the the away side ahead with a smart 1v1 finish. Darlington, at times, played some excellent football involving all players as the ball was zipped confidently around the pitch for much of the half. The home side struggled to possess the ball for any length of time as the away sides physical and technical dominance left Nunthorpe hoping for a mistake to let them back into the game. While Darlington looked silky smooth, they were restricted by a fast and determined home defence who rarely allowed a shot at their keeper. As so often the case in football, if you don’t score when you are on top, you get punished… and two good deliveries from two set pieces saw the home side take a shock 2-1 lead into the break. After a few tactical tweaks at half time and a desire to right the wrongs of the first half, Darlington came out on fire and quickly raced into a 3-2 lead with Ethan Mcloughlin’s direct midfield run and finish followed up by Lennon’s calm second putting them back in control of the score line as well as the ball.
Chances were finally being created at regular intervals now and when Lennon completed his hat-trick, the game was all but over as a contest. Rueben slotted home a penalty to round off the scoring late in the half. A really good game, played in an excellent spirit by both teams. Darlington are still sitting pretty joint top of the table with 2 games in hand".

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TJFA Boys U17 League Cup:

Darlington FC 2-0 Richmond Town FC 

Goalscorers: Raphael Oppong (2)

Team Coach Grant Cuthbertson said; "Today we managed to eventually play on the 4G for what on paper looked like a tasty affair with some of the Richmond Team being ex Darlington players. From the KO, it was a 100% tempo from both teams and neither of the teams took a foothold of the game in the first half. Second half was very much the same as the first with both teams having little success in front of goal until the 75th min when Richmond pushed for a goal and if it wasn’t from a magnificent double save from Liam Mason, we would of been 1 nil down. This seemed to spurn us on and a header from Luke Wade looked like it crossed the line to give us the lead but the referee said “NO”! The lads seemed to have the bit between their teeth and through pure grit, determination and believing in the plan after a lot of knocking when Raphael Oppong scored and just like a bus, not 1 minute later Oppong scored again to make it 2-0. That is how it stayed till the final whistle. These boys are growing and believing every week and playing for each other which is brilliant to see and it is an absolute pleasure to be able to be part of this team".