County 3 Darlington 1883 3

County were held 3-3 at Edgeley Park by a resilient and ‘cute’ Darlington side.

First off, this is not an Ian Brown masterpiece, the text comes from yours truly, who watched the game and offered sweets and entertainment to my lad – hence the lack of detail.

Overlall, it must be said this was a riveting game and thanks to the healthy Darlington 1883 support had a real Football League feel to it.

Another healthy crowd and the Main Stand where I was seated did seem more full than the 3600 gate suggested.

Darlington were a well drilled side with a statuesque back line and giant number 9 (who did his best, with some success, to kid the gullible referee with some quality diving and play-acting. Some call it ‘cute’ but this combination of ‘gamesmanship’ and ‘robust’ play was a feature of the opposition. They could have lost a least one player during the 90 minutes, if not two given some of the ‘goings-on’.

That said, the Quakers could play a bit when they wanted, but overall County looked the better team for long periods of the game, hitting the woodwork twice, and on another day could have come away with a 4-1 victory.

Two of the goals conceded were very very soft and undermined the energetic and skillful play from the Hatters.

Danny Lloyd looked very sharp, particularly in the first half. Big ‘K’ performed well and stuck to his role and got a good reception from the Main Stand when he was taken off and replaced by Ball. MOTM for me was debutant number 8 Osbourne (on loan from Fleetwood I think) who looked full of confidence and seemed to have more time on the ball than anyone else.

I thought Duxbury had a bit of a disappointing game and keeper Hinchliffe looked to be a fault with Darlington’s first goal.

Overall, walking out it felt like a defeat but on reflection a very enjoyable game and I look forward to the days when we play more sides like Darlington 1883 again.

Cropped.

Match Highlts below. So nearly 4-3 in the final seconds….