Source: Northern_Echo
Darlington 1 Kettering Town 1
THEY might have a date at Wembley, but Darlington's play-off hopes took a huge blow after a frustrating night saw them held to a 1-1 draw with Kettering Town.[LNB] After the euphoria of reaching the FA Trophy final on Saturday, there was always the danger of an anti-climax, but Quakers were keen to pick up where they left off and resume the impressive league form which has seen them lose one in 13.[LNB] A goal from Michael Smith after two minutes seemed to put any suggestions of a cup hangover to bed but Jean-Paul Marna's equaliser four minutes later left Mark Cooper's side ten points adrift of the play-offs with 11 games left to play.[LNB] Cooper admitted after the game there was always a worry of a hangover, but insisted his side should have put the game to bed,after getting off to such a good start.[LNB] "You're always worried about it," Quakers boss said.[LNB] "We were certainly worried about it before the game. We expressed that to the players and we just asked them to be mentally strong and get the job done.[LNB] "We got off to a great start after two minutes, another great free-kick from Aaron Brown, a good header from Michael Smith and then we've let them straight in.[LNB] "The goalkeeper's done well for us this season but he's got to pick that one up from the floor and he didn't so we gave them a bit of a lift.[LNB] "In the second half we were just huff and puff and in my opinion we wasted about 40 minutes of the first half. If we'd have played that time like we did the second half we'd have won the game.[LNB] "We created chances but we never looked as though we were going to take them, we weren't convincing when we got into positions."[LNB] It seemed like a convincing performance was on the cards though, when Quakers took the lead within two minutes of kick-off.[LNB] Brown's free-kicks have yielded several goals for Cooper's side this season and again, the left-back's delivery produced the goods.[LNB] After Liam Hatch had been fouled on the right, Brown stepped up and curled in an inviting ball, with returning striker Smith easily heading past Kettering keeper Willy Gueret to give the hosts an early lead.[LNB] It was a statement of intent from Quakers and moments later they almost doubled their lead from another set-piece.[LNB] This time, it was Marc Bridge-Wilkinson who lofted a ball in from the left, with defender Dan Burn getting up to challenge the keeper and almost guiding the ball in.[LNB] The visitors were keen to spoil the Wembley party though, and immediately they came back at the home side, playing some neat passing football.[LNB] A looping ball over the top from Sol Davis left Marna racing towards goal. Town's top scorer managed to get himself between the hesitant Quakers defence and keeper Sam Russell, lobbing the ball over and in to level the score after just six minutes.[LNB] The goal might have silenced the Darlington fans, but quickly after, Cooper's men were back on the offensive with Burn having a header tipped over, before Verma's headed effort was palmed on to the bar by Gueret.[LNB] For Kettering, Liam McDonald managed to get the better of Burn out on the left and charged into the box, playing a low ball across to Adam Cunningham, who's tame shot went just wide.[LNB] Michael Smith almost put the hosts ahead less than a minute after the restart.[LNB] A pass from Bridge-Wilkinson found Hatch, who played a diagonal ball in to the oncoming striker, but his low shot went inches wide.[LNB] The second half was a similar story to the first, with the home side just edging possession and chances although they couldn't find a break-through.[LNB] Kettering were offering little in the way of attacking play but Quakers struggled to take advantage with Paul Arnison's long-range shot flying over, and Hatch seeing a goal-bound strike blocked.[LNB] Cooper introduced Chris Senior and John Campbell to try and force a winner and as the game entered the final ten minutes, the home side continued to pile on pressure.[LNB] A Brown free-kick rattled the cross bar, and Bridge-Wilkinson then went close but another superb block from Kettering centre-back Callum Flanagan denied the midfielder's goal-bound shot and leave the hosts frustrated with a draw.[LNB]
