Source: Northern_Echo
Quakers hit Eastbourne for six
RAMPANT Darlington ran riot against Eastbourne Borough as they beat the bottom side 6-1 at the Northern Echo Arena.[LNB] A hat-trick from Marc Bridge-Wilkinson along with goals from Liam Hatch, John Campbell and Aman Verma sealed Quakers' biggest win of the season[LNB] It was a pretty tame opening quarter hour but the home side went ahead on 18 minutes through Bridge-Wilkinson.[LNB] The midfielder's curling free-kick from the left channel evaded everyone and flew past Eastbourne keeper Tommy Forecast to spark a first-half goal-fest for the home side.[LNB] Quakers were firmly in control and less than ten minutes later Bridge-Wilkinson had his second from the spot.[LNB] Referee Paul Hodskinson awarded the penalty after Bridge-Wilkinson was brought down by Matt Crabb after an inch-perfect pass from Campbell had played him through.[LNB] The midfielder picked himself up and slotted the ball low to the right for his eighth goal of the season.[LNB] Quakers were firmly in control by this point and it was only a matter of time before a third goal would arrive.[LNB] The visitors were all over the place defensively and less than five minutes after conceding the penalty, the referee pointed to the spot again when Verma was brought down by Matt Smart.[LNB] That gave Bridge-Wilkinson the perfect opportunity to get his hat-trick and he made no mistake, firing low past the Boro keeper to put the Cooper's side three up.[LNB] Quakers fans were in dreamland but they weren't finished yet and less than two minutes later it was four.[LNB] Arnison collected the ball out of the right and curled an exquisite ball into the box, where Hatch was waiting unmarked to head the ball past Forecast.[LNB] The game was over, but Quakers weren't finished and for the first time at the Echo Arena, the supporters saw a fifth first-half Quakers goal, arguably the pick of the lot.[LNB] Out wide on the right, Hatch delightfully flicked the ball past Eddie Johnson and played the ball into the Campbell, who finshed low for his first goal in a Darlington shirt to give Quakers a 5-0 lead after 36 minutes.[LNB] When the sides emerged after the interval, Quakers continued to dominate and in the 68th minute they hit Boro for six.[LNB] Bridge-Wilkinson was again involved but this time he turned provider, playing a neat exchange with Verma, who powered his shot past the keeper from 25-yards.[LNB] Quakers could have had even more too, with Bridge-Wilkinson smashing the bar with a curling free-kick before the keeper denied him from a similar position.[LNB] It was almost a perfect afternoon for Cooper's men, but the visitors grabbed a 85th minute consolation when Neil Jenkins headed in from George Purcell's corner.[LNB]
