Pre Season Friendly
at Blackwell Meadows
Darlington (0) 1
Harvey Saunders 53
Motherwell (3) 5
Cédric Kipré 3, Danny Johnson 7,
Allan Campbell, Ryan Bowman 80,
James Scott 90
Admission £10. Attendance 802
Photo gallery link: Click HERE
The gulf in class between the Nationwide League North and the Scottish Premier League, was evident, as the North Lanarkshire side cruised into a three goal lead before the interval, which, if truth be told, could've seen 'Darlo' trailing even further behind by the time that the half time whistle sounded.
Cédric Kipré got the final touch from all of six inches away from the Quakers goal line to give the Steelmen the lead inside the opening three minutes, before Danny Johnson doubled their advantage with a sublime volley shortly afterwards.
Allan Campbell hooked the third goal past Jon Maddison with thirty six minutes on the clock above the pavilion, after which time this became little more than a damage limitation exercise for the home side.
Darlington upped the ante after the break and Harvey Saunders pulled a goal back, after competing well with Aaron Taylor-Sinclair, while running diagonally towards the Steelmen's goal, before shooting across the visitors 'keeper Trevor Carson and finding the back of the net.
The goal gave the home side a spring in their step and they picked up their game as a consequence, but 'Well soon took control again and turned the screw on their hosts in the closing stages.
Carl McHugh won a header inside his own half that he made such a firm contact with, the ball dropped nicely for Ryan Bowman on the edge of the Darlington area and he lobbed thee keeper to add a fourth goal for the visitors.
In the final minute, Motherwell youngster James Scott, battled for the ball to the right hand side of the hosts area, before crashing an angled shot inside the far post, to complete this afternoon's rout.
It was good to see that Darlington have relocated and restored the old 'Tin Shed End' roof from the Feethams Ground in the town centre and erected it behind one of the goals at Blackwell Meadows... and the rest of the ground is more than adequate for the level that the current team are playing at.
The history of Darlington FC/Darlington 1883 and Darlington FC again has been well documented,
see HERE and is a tale that many a club ought to take notice of if they want to avoid some of the pitfalls that the County Durham club has encountered over the years.
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| The Tin Shed |
I understand that non league clubs need to tap into all available income streams in order to survive... and Darlington FC probably understand the logistics of that more than most.
But I ask you... £5 to use the car park at a Nationwide League North ground? That's scandalous!
It was good to catch up with people I know from Leicester, Manchester, Sheffield and Walsall today and nice to meet a couple of Forest Green Rovers fans too... I hope that the drive home wasn't as hot, sticky and at the mercy of the multitude of roadworks that I encountered for you all.
FT: Darlington 1 v Motherwell 5
Highlight's of the game from Motherwell's YouTube channel. This overview isn't edited with a bias towards the visiting team... the Steelmen really were that dominant.
Darlington played their first ever match at Blackwell Meadows on Boxing Day 2016, when they beat FC Halifax Town 3-2 in a National League North fixture.
Today marked my first ever visit to the ground... and it ticked a lot of boxes as regards things that I would have expected from a modernised stadium. Lets hope for the sake of the long suffering Quakers faithful, that they are now an upwardly mobile, phoenix like club and there are no more pitfalls or unscrupulous characters waiting ahead as they journey on.
