Source: Northern_Echo
Bath City 2 Darlington 2
Bath City 2 Darlington 2[LNB] SITTING in the dug-out gazing out across the Twerton Park pitch but focusing on nothing in particular, Mark Cooper's body language said it all after Saturday's injury-time nightmare.[LNB] For the third consecutive away game his team had thrown away a lead, but this time in the most dramatic manner imaginable.[LNB] They conceded two goals in injury-time after leading 2-0 in the 90th minute and being comfortably in control against lowly Bath City.[LNB] At full-time the Darlington manager made a few salient points to his shell-shocked team in the dressing room before returning to the white-painted brick dug-out to gather his thoughts about what went wrong before addressing the media to explain the latest away-day misery.[LNB] Two weeks ago, after the embarrassing draw at Eastbourne Borough, when Quakers failed to beat a team who played for an hour with nine men and had a midfielder in goal, Cooper chose not to speak to the press for fear of making a knee-jerk reaction and saying something out of turn.[LNB] This time around such concerns were redundant as the manager was stumped.[LNB] For once in my life I am speechless, I don't know what to say, he admitted.[LNB] I just didn't see it coming.[LNB] We were 2-0 up and comfortable, really cruising.[LNB] I don't think there is anything you can say, really, apart from the game was in the bag after 90 minutes and it was the best team that was 2-0 up.[LNB] In clear criticism of substitutes Curtis Main and Josh Gray, who in the closing stages had replaced Liam Hatch and Michael Smith, Cooper said: When you take your best players off and the replacements do not have the desired effect then you're running the risk of playing with nine players.[LNB] The substitutes that you put on have got to make a difference.[LNB] Last week we put Jamie Chandler on and he scored.[LNB] Chandler's reward was a return to the team, selected ahead of Joe Clarke, but there was no Leon Knight due to a hitch with his proposed signing.[LNB] Cooper's team went 1-0 up on 25 minutes when Chris Senior showed a nice piece of skill to lift the ball over defender Gethin Jones before heading past stranded keeper Ryan Robinson.[LNB] It was his third goal in as many games and Quakers' only first-half chance.[LNB] However, Bath were also ineffective, giving keeper Sam Russell only one save to make, a tame Lee Phillips effort that just about reached the goalline.[LNB] As Cooper said, for the most part Darlington had been the best team, certainly during the second period, and once Hatch had made it 2-0 on 69 minutes the contest appeared as good as over.[LNB] Hatch drilled home a thunderous effort from 20 yards after being played in by Senior, who had struck the post early in the second half.[LNB] For the remaining time a confident Quakers began playing keep-ball, passing it around inside their own half, while despondent Bath fans headed for the exit.[LNB] But in the 94th minute Quakers demonstrated a lack of concentration straight from the Titus Bramble school of defending.[LNB] They simply switched off, were unable to defend a throw-in and up popped Lewis Hogg to pass the ball past Russell with Bath's first meaningful shot on target.[LNB] Only a consolation though, surely[LNB] No. Less than 60 seconds later Quakers lost possession from the kick-off, afforded sub Hector Mackie too much space and he curled an effort from the corner of the penalty area over Russell.[LNB] On another day Cooper might have contested the referee's decision to play six minutes of injury-time, but on Saturday his only targets were his players.[LNB] He said: Usually your worst footballers with the ball at their feet are your centrebacks, so if you keep giving them the ball then you are asking for trouble.[LNB] If you want to pass the ball about at 2-0 up then you should do it at the front end of the pitch. We decided to pass it between the two centre halves, which I found strange.[LNB] If the players want to win games then they need to listen to what I am telling them because I know how to win games at this level.[LNB] There is only so much as a manager and a coach that you can do.[LNB] The players have to take a little bit of responsibility.[LNB] They've been shown how to do it, they know how we play and they know how to get results, but they haven't done it. So they're either thick or stupid.[LNB] Cooper can at least console himself with the knowledge his team remains unbeaten away from home and undefeated in five consecutive matches.[LNB] That represents Darlington's best run since January 2009, a spell that included a 5-1 win over Luton Town, who are tomorrow night's visitors to The Northern Echo Arena.[LNB] Scoreboard Goals:[LNB] 0-1: Senior (25, headed over the keeper after lifting the ball over a defender)[LNB] 0-2: Hatch (0-2, rifled the ball into the net from the edge of the penalty area)[LNB] 1-2: Hogg (1-2, passed the ball into the corner from around ten yards)[LNB] 2-2: Mackie (2-2, right-footed curling effort from the corner of the penalty area)[LNB] Booking: Hone (35, foul)[LNB] Referee: Steven Cook (Woking) Not to blame for the six minutes of injury-time as there were five substitutions and a handful of injuries 7[LNB] Attendance: 951[LNB] Entertainment: [LNB] BATH CITY (4-4-2): Robinson 6; J Edwards 5 (Mackie 76), Jones 6 (Rollo 81), Webb 7, Jombati 6; SIMPSON 7, Canham 5, Connolly 5, Hogg 7; Phillips 5 (D Edwards 83), Mohamed 6. Subs (not used): Harris, Hart[LNB] DARLINGTON (4-3-3):[LNB] 7 Russell: Dealt well with a series of crosses and could not be blamed for either goal;[LNB] 6 Arnison: Played on despite sustaining a second-half injury after receiving a kick on the ankle[LNB] 7 Hone: Unfairly booked during the first half for a high foot when he was going for the ball[LNB] 6 Austin: Won just about everything in the air, though it was from the throw he conceded that Bath scored their first[LNB] 6 Brown: Simpson on Bath's right-wing gave him a tough time[LNB] 6 Terry: Quietly efficient with the ball though not as influential as usual[LNB] 7 Chandler: Good display, but a better touch in the dying seconds and he could have been the hero[LNB] 6 G Smith: Put in plenty of tackles and kept possession with plenty of short passing;[LNB] 6 M Smith: Pushed off the ball a couple of times on a frustrating day for the youngster[LNB] 7 Hatch: Suffered a broken nose but Cooper said it was his best game of the season[LNB] 7 SENIOR: Scored a goal, hit the post and and teed up Hatch for his goal[LNB] Subs:[LNB] J Gray (for M Smith 84) Main (for Hatch 87) (not used): Thompson (gk), McReady, Clarke[LNB] MAN OF THE MATCH[LNB] CHRIS Senior Had a slow start to the season but is enjoying a purple patch now.[LNB]
