Source: Northern_Echo
Altrincham 2 Darlington 2
Altrincham 2 Darlington 2[LNB] A DRAMATIC fightback saw Darlington salvage a draw in their first away game of the season last night at Altrincham.[LNB] The hosts led 2-0 with 12 minutes to play, but a spirited Quakers showed the kind of determination sadly missing last term by clawing two goals back with Tommy Wright playing a starring role.[LNB] The substitute's 90th minute header secured a point, while it was his jump with Altrincham's Stuart Coburn that resulted in the keeper flicking the ball into his own net.[LNB] Although pleased to have clawed back a two-goal defect, Mark Cooper could not hide his frustration with the players.[LNB] We might as well have not bothered turning up until half past nine because we didn't perform at all and that was not acceptable, he said.[LNB] The positives are the character we showed in coming back from two goals down and we might even have won it in injury time.[LNB] But they've got to be able to deal with these situations at a Conference ground. Altrincham are a team that give 100 per cent but we didn't deal with it.[LNB] I'd warned the players about coming here but didn't deal with it so there's work to do.[LNB] Altrincham had edged the first half possession, stretching Quakers for periods, but Darlington had the better chances.[LNB] Midfielder Jamie Chandler forced a save out of Coburn after ending a driving run with a low drive from the edge of the penalty area.[LNB] That came on 18 minutes and the promising start continued with Liam Hatch volleying an effort that Altrincham defender Rob Williams headed away before the best opportunity of the half fell to Chris Senior.[LNB] Playing against the club he spent three-and-a-half years at before joining Darlington in pre-season, he linked up well with Hatch before firing a powerful volley that Coburn did well to save.[LNB] Thereafter the hosts saw more of Sam Russell's goal and Quakers breathed a sigh of relief when Damian Reeves directed a free header from close-range over the bar.[LNB] Chris Denham's chip was tipped over the bar by Russell and then Nicky Clee shot high before Altrincham's Ryan Brown fired a low shot wide in first half injury time.[LNB] It had been a testing first 45 minutes for Cooper's side who started brightly before fading, though shortly after the restart Offiong was about to shoot from inside the penalty area but Shaun Densmore executed a superblytimed tackle.[LNB] The opener then came thanks to Russell error.[LNB] Three days after being man of the match against Newport, the keeper attempted to take the ball past a forward but his touch was too heavy and he handed Denham an open goal to make it 1-0.[LNB] Cooper must have hoped the goal would spark his side into action, but the next chance fell to Reeves who got between Quakers' two centre- backs, Ian Miller and Danny Hone, and was inches away with a header.[LNB] Josh Gray on for Senior, who received warm applause from the home fans, signalled a switch from 4-3-3 to 4-4-2 and the new width immediately saw Quakers create a chance with Gary Smith racing down the right but the resulting ball was cleared from inside the six-yard box.[LNB] But with 12 minutes to go came what appeared to the match-clinching second goal for the hosts.[LNB] Right-back Paul Arnison conceded a disputed free-kick and from the resulting setpiece, taken by Kevin Holsgrove, Dale Johnson tapped into the net.[LNB] However, almost immediately Darlington were back in it.[LNB] Smith's floated ball into the penalty area saw Wright challenge Coburn but neither got a clean connection and the ball flew into the net.[LNB] And in the final minute Darlington grabbed a dramatic leveller this time there was no doubting the scorer.[LNB] Gray worked himself into a good position on the left byline and chipped a cross that Wright headed back across goal into corner of the net.[LNB] Matchfacts Goals: Denham (51, 1-0); Johnson (78, 2-0); Colburn og (81, 2-1); Wright (90, 2-2) Bookings: Hone (53, foul); Danylyk (53, dissent); Hatch (67, foul); Lawton (70, foul); Arnison (78, foul) Referee: Steve Martin (Staffordshire) 5 Attendance: 1,099[LNB] ALTRINCHAM (4-4-2): Coburn 4; DENSMORE 7, Williams 6, Smith 6, Joseph 6; Danylyk 7, Brown 6, Lawton 7 (Holmes 85), Clee 6 (Holsgrove 75); Denham 7, Reeves 7 (Johnson 75). Subs (not used): Coates (gk), Welch[LNB] DARLINGTON (4-3-3): Russell 5; Arnison 6, Hone 6, Miller 6, Austin 5 (Clarke 28); Terry 6, Chandler 6, G SMITH 7; Senior 5 (Gray 63, 7), Hatch 6, Offiong 5 (Wright 77). Subs (not used): Jack (gk), M Smith[LNB] MAN OF THE MATCH GARY Smith heavily involved in the latter stages[LNB]
