Source: Northern_Echo
Darlington defeated
Darlington have slumped to 13th in the table after losing 1-0 at Fleetwood Town today.[LNB] Mark Cooper's men lost thanks to a goal scored in the first half by opponents who occupy the fifth position, the final play-off spot.[LNB] But today's defeat means that Quakers are now 13 points off the play-off positions and face an uphill task during the last 25 games of the season if they are to finish the campaign in the top five.[LNB] The only scored during a first half in which Darlington were easily second best. Too reliant on long balls to Liam Hatch, who started as a striker alongside Jefferson Louis, in defensive Quakers were less than convincing.[LNB] And keeper Sam Russell may have done more to prevent the only goal. He opted to leave Jamie Milligan's curling free-kick, perhaps expecting it to go wide, but it rebounded into play off a post and fell kindly for Gareth Seddon to tap into the net.[LNB] The nature of the goal may have been fortunate but Fleetwood deserved their lead and could have added to their lead before the break with Russell pulling off an impressive one-handed save to deny Magno Vieira.[LNB] In the second half, however, Quakers changed formation and were much-improved. Striker Curtis Main emerged from the bench, Hatch reverted to centre-back, with Ian Miller switching to right-back, and the switch added solidarity to the back-line.[LNB] Within six minutes Louis sent Main racing away and the teenager unleashed a low shot that keeper Scott Davies did well to push wide for a corner.[LNB] Davies' bettered that save by tipping a dipping Louis effort over the bar, but with 20 minutes to play that proved to be the final time Darlington tested the Fleetwood keeper as Cooper's side lost their momentum.[LNB] With former Quakers defender Sean Gregan providing a solid presence in the centre of Fleetwood's defence, most of Darlington's attacks fell short of reaching the opposition penalty area as their attempts at finding an equaliser fizzled out.[LNB] Darlington are at The Northern Echo Arena on Monday when they host Barrow (4pm), the only team in the division without an away league win this season.[LNB] [LNB]
