"Only The Lonely" THE66POW blogger person models Tesco Jeans in Darlington.And for all you fans of minutiae and statistics ... they've scored an average of 0.8 goals per game.
Darlo RA, they've won lots of trophies at dartsFor their part Hebburn Town, though they have two games in hand, started this game only two points ahead of DRA in the table and were actually beneath them at the bottom of the current form table.
They've recently appointed a new manager, Rob Marsden and have drawn their last two games against North Shields and Team Northumbria, the latter being the only side Darlo RA have beaten all season.
Birtley Town have been trying to gate crash this two team relegation race for a while, today they 'achieved' that honour by virtue of losing 1-3 at home to Gillford Park and they have an away game at Hebburn Town next Saturday, where they can really establish themselves as relegation contenders.
http://www.northernleague.org/view_div2_tables.php
Following this home defeat, Max Rees, Darlington Railway Athletic's manager resigned.
Thrill seekers one and all - head to the 'RA' ...
Saturday 24th October 2009. Northern League Division 2.Brinkburn Road, Darlington.
Darlington Railway Athletic (0) 0
Hebburn Town (0) 1 (Armstrong)
Admission £3. Programme £1 (a great effort, they usually are in this league), NVNG magazine 30p or free with programme (another great Northen League publication)
Caution: Weather subject to immediate change.Downpours, gusting wind, Autumn sunshine ... the weather provided a vast array of elements to 'amuse' us all with, the cloud formation and rainbow combinations were quite spectacular and were probably a real thrill for any budding meteorologists present today.
Alas the football, save for a few all too brief flurries, wasn't ever so entertaining for the most part.
Darlington RA hold penalty shoot out competitions for local school kids on the pitch at half time, it's great getting the youngsters familiar with the surroundings of their local club, however ... there are stands offering cover from the elements at both ends and on the dug outs side of the ground. Along the other side is a wide uncovered strip of land and behind that playing fields galore that you get access to from within the football ground - so why can't the kids, who obviously have no interest in the game on the main pitch at all, bugger off over there and play instead of clattering up and down in front of (and amongst) people who are actually watching a 'proper game'.
In their defence, the young lads and lasses just want to play football, but the parents and teachers should know better. "I told him to stop kicking that ball near people or it would hit one of them ... but he wouldn't bloody well listen!" said one female 'guardian' by way of (almost) an apology, after her son had miscued a 'Cruyff Turn' and hit a woman in the third row with a muddy ball.Note to parents and teachers - there is a sign on the end of the end of The Paul Adamson Memorial Stand, it is there for a reason - read it!!!
Thankfully a lot of them buggered off after their interval 'moment of glory', including the lad who was being taunted by his dad "FFS son! You had a penalty saved, by a lass! You make me feel sick, what have I taught you? That was shite son, you showed me up, I'm ashamed, you're rubbish!"
Hmm, catch 'em early, keep 'em keen n' all that.
There was only one person showing the pair of them up and anyone within earshot would clarify who that was.
Sam Pybus plays Spot The Ball through a crowd of bodies
Out on the pitch, I think most people would've been happy to witness a miscued 'Cruyff Turn' or even a passage of play that consisted of either team completing three successive passes.
It was taking both sides some time to get to grips with the conditions and the first half hour was quite tedious, only punctuated by a few 'mistimed' tackles.
Hebburn did eventually start to knock the ball about towards the end of the half and Paul Trosh could have scored twice - the first effort saw Sam Pybus, the home team's goalkeeper, block a close range strike, the second saw Trosh head the ball across the face of the goal and beat the keeper and defence all ends up but also evade the back post by a couple of feet.
HT 0-0
Brinkburn Road football ground could do with some weed-killer and TLC in places
In the second period, Darlington RA played like a team who have that bottom of the league millstone weighing heavily on their shoulders, every (almost) promising move broke down due to a misplaced pass or all too easy interception from a Hebburn player.
On 52 minutes, Michael Armstrong hit home the only goal of the game from inside the penalty area, Pybus was woefully exposed by a lack of cover from his defence.
I know it was 52 minutes because a small, inoffensive looking man standing nearby (who I had thought might be a North Face storm jacket wearing statue until he made a noise), shouted out the goal time very loudly to nobody in particular and then stood motionless again gazing at his stop watch for the rest of the game, waiting for a second opportunity to verbosely share some more vital information with, well, nobody in particular again ... alas the ineptitude of both teams in front of goal thwarted him in his quest.
I don't think it was actually 52 minutes at all but don't want to rob him of his moment.
And then the Darlo RA players heads seemed to drop even more as they were consumed by the inevitability of yet another league defeat ... at just one goal down with 38 minutes still on the clock!
On 65 minutes Paul Trosh (again) missed the chance to put Hebburn two up from close range with Pybus already beaten, he'll have better days than this.
The Hebburn Town number 6 narrowly missed out on a hat trick today, but when Dame Fortune isn't smiling on you she does seem to have days when she delights in mocking you instead. Today she was being extra spiteful to Paul Trosh.
On 75 minutes William Crew was through on the Darlo goal but was thwarted by a last ditch defensive tackle from making the score more convincing for Hebburn.
The visitors were the better side, but by the same token the 'RA' were the worse by some distance so that probably made their opponents look better than they were.
In his last ever programme notes the Darlington RA manager had mentioned negative comments posted by supporters on the DRAFC section of the Non League Zone forum and suggested they should use their real names instead of hiding behind aliases.
Ironically, in the latest copy of 'Northern Ventures - Northern Gains' (congratulations on reaching 20 years with this excellent publication BTW) there is an interview with one of the guys now running the NLZ who said he had become concerned about "sometimes banal and often immature" dialogues on the site "It's our determination to take a harder line to attract the type of contributors to restore it's reputation as a vehicle for intelligent discussion about non-league football" ... well said that man, about time too.
With everybody gratefully looking at their watches and seeing that the 90 minutes were up, we all stood waiting in gleeful anticipation for the referee's whistle to put this game out of it's misery, when Hebburn Town decided to provide us with a comedic finale that just about summed up the rest of the game.
Two of their players set off on a run towards the DRA goal from the centre circle to take advantage of the fact that the home side had pushed forward in a vainglorious last ditch effort to salvage a point. The ball was free, as was the route to goal and it was 'rush goalie' time ... but both players clumsily ran into each other and went crashing to the floor in an undignified heap as the ball bobbled harmlessly away.
The whistle sounded and I was in my car and heading out of the end of Brinkburn Road before the last player had even left the pitch.
Out on the pitch, I think most people would've been happy to witness a miscued 'Cruyff Turn' or even a passage of play that consisted of either team completing three successive passes.
It was taking both sides some time to get to grips with the conditions and the first half hour was quite tedious, only punctuated by a few 'mistimed' tackles.
Hebburn did eventually start to knock the ball about towards the end of the half and Paul Trosh could have scored twice - the first effort saw Sam Pybus, the home team's goalkeeper, block a close range strike, the second saw Trosh head the ball across the face of the goal and beat the keeper and defence all ends up but also evade the back post by a couple of feet.
HT 0-0
Brinkburn Road football ground could do with some weed-killer and TLC in placesIn the second period, Darlington RA played like a team who have that bottom of the league millstone weighing heavily on their shoulders, every (almost) promising move broke down due to a misplaced pass or all too easy interception from a Hebburn player.
On 52 minutes, Michael Armstrong hit home the only goal of the game from inside the penalty area, Pybus was woefully exposed by a lack of cover from his defence.
I know it was 52 minutes because a small, inoffensive looking man standing nearby (who I had thought might be a North Face storm jacket wearing statue until he made a noise), shouted out the goal time very loudly to nobody in particular and then stood motionless again gazing at his stop watch for the rest of the game, waiting for a second opportunity to verbosely share some more vital information with, well, nobody in particular again ... alas the ineptitude of both teams in front of goal thwarted him in his quest.
I don't think it was actually 52 minutes at all but don't want to rob him of his moment.
And then the Darlo RA players heads seemed to drop even more as they were consumed by the inevitability of yet another league defeat ... at just one goal down with 38 minutes still on the clock!
On 65 minutes Paul Trosh (again) missed the chance to put Hebburn two up from close range with Pybus already beaten, he'll have better days than this.
The Hebburn Town number 6 narrowly missed out on a hat trick today, but when Dame Fortune isn't smiling on you she does seem to have days when she delights in mocking you instead. Today she was being extra spiteful to Paul Trosh.
On 75 minutes William Crew was through on the Darlo goal but was thwarted by a last ditch defensive tackle from making the score more convincing for Hebburn.
The visitors were the better side, but by the same token the 'RA' were the worse by some distance so that probably made their opponents look better than they were.In his last ever programme notes the Darlington RA manager had mentioned negative comments posted by supporters on the DRAFC section of the Non League Zone forum and suggested they should use their real names instead of hiding behind aliases.
With everybody gratefully looking at their watches and seeing that the 90 minutes were up, we all stood waiting in gleeful anticipation for the referee's whistle to put this game out of it's misery, when Hebburn Town decided to provide us with a comedic finale that just about summed up the rest of the game.Two of their players set off on a run towards the DRA goal from the centre circle to take advantage of the fact that the home side had pushed forward in a vainglorious last ditch effort to salvage a point. The ball was free, as was the route to goal and it was 'rush goalie' time ... but both players clumsily ran into each other and went crashing to the floor in an undignified heap as the ball bobbled harmlessly away.
The whistle sounded and I was in my car and heading out of the end of Brinkburn Road before the last player had even left the pitch.
FT 0-1
*Footnote* There is a link to the Non League Zone in THE66POW index (see right hand margin) and details of how to obtain the Northern Ventures Northern Gains magazine can be found here --> http://www.northernleague.org/league/nl_publications_3.php
