Darlington in a spot of bother

22 August 2009 17:01
Port Vale 1 Darlington 0 A week ago a terrible penalty cost Darlington a draw, and history repeated itself today when they slipped to defeat at Port Vale. Last week Dean Windass' tame penalty was easily saved and meant Bury won 1-0 at The Northern Echo Darlington Arena. This afternoon at Vale Park Quakers midfielder Gary Smith repeated the trick with an effort way off target. Whereas Windass had come in for criticism for taking a weak penalty, Smith saw to it there would be no repeat as he hammered the ball from the spot. Unfortunately he hammered it high over the crossbar. It was harsh on Darlington, and Smith who had been one of their better players, but it means Quakers fell to their fourth consecutive league defeat. As Grimsby won 1-0 at Bury, with a Barryc Conlon goal, Quakers are now bottom of the table without a point. They had been behind today since midway through the first half when Marc Richards netted, but Quakers remained in contention throughout with a battling display that saw chances at both ends. In a lively opening the first chance fell to the hosts when Kris Taylor whipped in a ball to the near post at head height that required only the slightest of connections to put Port Vale ahead. But Louis Dodds was unable to make contact and a minute later Quakers had a golden chance of their own following a dangerous Smith free-kick to the far post. Windass headed it back across goal but Tommy Fraser cleared from inside his own six-yard box before Quakers could capitlise. Windass was recalled at the expense of David Dowson, who dropped to the bench, while Rikki Bains came in for his full debut at right-back in place of the injured Paul Arnison (hamstring). But there was no place for captain Steve Foster who was on the bench. As in in the midweek defeat, Matt Plummer was again preferred at the heart of defence. In a lively opening with action at both ends, Vale number nine Richards stung the palms of Darlington's David Knight with a long-range powerful strike that the keeper dealt with comfortably, and the striker had an other opportunity soon after. He raced on to a through-ball but snatched at his attempt and dragged his shot well-wide just inside the penalty area. Darlington's Jordan Cook was also off target with an attempt teed up by Windass, but Richards did not have to wait much longer to finally score. A perfectly-weighted ball by Robert Taylor across Quakers' penalty area was met at the far post by an unmarked Richards who calmly made it 1-0 with his side's first league goal from open play this season. He also scored when the Valiants beat Darlington at Vale Park in March, and they would have been well on their way to repeating the feat had Taylor not headed off target from close to goal a minute after Richards' strike. Micky Adams' side were now on top and Knight had to get down well to comfortably deal with low Taylor shot from 20 yards. Darlington had begun brightly but had not created any clear chances, and by the time Richards scored Quakers were struggling to penetrate a resolute Port Vale defence and not even half chances were coming their way. After the goal there was no lack of effort on Quakers' part, but where a goal was to come from was difficult to see. One neat and prolonged passing move, with Smith central to it, succeeded in Darlington breaking into the hosts' penalty area but keeper Chris Martin easily caught Lee Thorpe's header back across goal. Twice within two minutes of the restart the Valiants came close to making it 2-0. First Taylor fired a fierce drive that flew narrowly over the bar, and then Dodds dribbled half the length pitch, unchallenged, into Darlington's penalty before scuffing a shot at Knight. Richards then rolled a shot wide after beating Miller to the ball as the hosts aimed to take advantage of their supremacy. Todd reacted by sending on new signing Kevin Gall, in place of Windass, but still chances came the hosts' way with Tommy Fraser blazing over from inside the penalty area after Quakers struggled to clear a corner. Darlington gradually played their way back into the contest with Thorpe linking up well with Gall. The new man's pace added a new dimension to Darlington's attack. Darlington's improved second half performance ensured Port Vale had lost much of their momentum and they seemed content with their 1-0 lead, although home supporters soon became restless. Richards broke into the area and was about to shoot when Plummer made a timely intervention. That meant it remained 1-0 and meant Darlington still had a chance of avoiding a fourth consecutive league defeat. With that in mind, Todd replaced Thorpe with on loan striker David Dowson and although it was Cook who had the next opportunity, heading over from 16 yards, the sub soon made an impact by winning a penalty with ten minutes to play. The on loan Sunderland youngster had chased a through-ball into Vale's penalty area before being tripped by Gareth Owen, giving Smith chance to equalise. After being made to wait for a lengthy period of time, Smith stepped up and lashed a terrible effort, high over the bar and into the disgusted 134 Darlington fans behind the goal. At least Windass' was on target. Just before the penalty award Todd had switched to 4-3-3 and sent on 17-year-old Curtis Main, taking off Nathan Porritt, but by injury time almost every Darlington player was sent forward in a desperate attempt to find a leveller. They put Vale under the cosh with the hosts throwing bodies in front of desperate Darlington attempts to equalise, but they were unable to test Martin and the final whistle Darlington have now lost all four of their league games. Goals: Richards (1-0, 29) Bookings: Dowson (foul, 68) Referee: Paul Tierney (Lancashire) Attendance: 4,561 Port Vale (4-4-2): Martin; McCombe, Owen, Collins, K Taylor; Yates, Fraser, Loft (Jorgensen 77), Dodds; R Taylor (Lawrie 75), Richards (Horsfield 81). Subs: Lloyd-Weston, Stockley, Griffith, Thompson Darlington (4-4-2): Knight; Bains, Plummer, Miller, Bower; Cook, Chandler, G Smith, Porritt (Main 77); Windass (Gall 52), Thorpe (Dowson 70). Subs: Liversedge (gk), Foster, Bennett, J Smith

Source: Northern_Echo