Match Report

Darlington struck twice in the last ten minutes to get their promotion bid back on track with their first win in nine games.

But even though they left in late, they deserved their win for sheer perseverance against a dogged Bournemouth defence.

The home side had battered away without reward until Pawel Abbott showed a touch of class to equalise on 83 minutes.

When skipper Steve Foster burst forward from defence to cause havoc in the Bournemouth penalty area, Abbott positioned himself perfectly to stroke home the loose ball.

It was a sweet moment for the striker as it was his first goal of the season in only his second appearance after a long injury lay-off.

It got even better for the home side when Rob Purdie converted an injury-time penalty.

Liam Hatch wrong-footed the Bournemouth defence with a clever header to Franz Burgmeier, who was brought down by Jason Pearce.

Bournemouth protested strongly before Purdie composed himself to send Shwan Jalal the wrong way from the spot.

It was a far cry from the frustration that the Cherries had imposed on Darlington for most of the game.

The struggling visitors set their stall out to defend from the outset and did it so well that Darlo were restricted to half-chances before Danny Hollands raced on to Marvin Bartley's 34th minute pass to give the visitors a shock lead.

Before the break Richie Foran and Jason Kennedy missed good chances for the Quakers.

In the first five minutes of the second-half both Abbott and Hatch failed from close range.

Bournemouth almost made the points safe when Brett Pitman raced clear, but saw his shot well saved by Darlo keeper Simon Brown on 71 minutes.

It proved costly for Bournemouth as Darlington finally found a way through.

The win was just what Darlington needed going into the New Year after a bleak end to 2008.

Corners

Fouls

Goal attempts

Shots off target

Offsides