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  • Kick-off: 15:00
  • Venue: The Balfour Webnet Darlington Arena
  • Attendance: 2899
  • Referee: Sarginson, C

Live Commentary

90mins

The ref has blown his whistle for full time.

87mins

Billy Clarke is being taken off, Gregg Blundell has come on in his place.

71mins

Goal!! Sean Thornton scores for Shrewsbury.

70mins

The referee has booked Liam Hatch.

67mins

Shrewsbury are replacing Shane Sherriff with Neil Ashton.

67mins

Dave Hibbert is replaced by Richard Walker.

66mins

The referee has booked Ben Herd.

63mins

Sean Thornton goes into the referee's book for unsporting behaviour.

55mins

Goal!! Alan White scores for Darlington.

55mins

The referee has booked Grant Holt.

53mins

Jason Kennedy is booked for unsporting behaviour.

46mins

The second half is under way with the score currently at 0 v 0.

45mins

The ref has blown his whistle for half time.

45mins

The referee has booked Graham Coughlan.

44mins

Ricky Ravenhill is booked for unsporting behaviour.

37mins

Michael Jackson is booked for unsporting behaviour.

0mins

The ref has blown his whistle and the match has started.

Match Report

Honours ended even after a scrappy game that saw eight yellow cards from stand-in referee Chris Sarginson who had a shocker of a game and did nothing to encourage free-flowing football from two sides that like to entertain.

The weather didn't help as light rain and a swirling wind caused problems for both sides.

After an opening 20 minutes that was easily forgettable the game came to life in the 25th minute when Shrewsbury forward Grant Holt brought a fingertip save from Darlington keeper Simon Brown.

The home side responded with a shot from Franz Burgmeier that was dealt with by Town keeper Luke Daniels.

The game was notable for a string of strange refereeing decisions that reached a zenith in the 39th minute when Darlington defender Neil Austin brought a save from Daniels with a low shot from outside the area that was tipped around the post.

The visitors were awarded a goal kick and nobody in the stadium was surprised at the decision. Holt brought another save out of Brown two minutes later, the keeper saving the strikers effort at the second attempt to keep the score level.

Ten minutes into the second period the home side took the lead following a foul by Holt on Burgmeier that brought a yellow card for the Shrews forward and a one-match suspension.

Burgmeier took the kick and defender Alan White sent a powerful header beyond Daniels for his second goal of the season.

Darlington striker Liam Hatch almost increased his side's advantage with a header that had Daniels scrambling across his goal-line in the 64th minute.

The visitors grabbed an unlikely equaliser seven minutes later through midfielder Sean Thornton. There seemed no danger for the home defence until Thornton unleashed an unstoppable shot from 30 yards that flew over Brown to earn his side a valuable point on their travels.

Darlington

Shrewsbury Town

Corners

43

Fouls

2019

Goal attempts

74

Shots off target

41

Offsides

12

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