Darlington stroll to victory

Darlington 3 Forest Green Rovers 0 Darlington strolled to a comfortable victory this afternoon as they put last week's poor result behind them by easily overcoming Forest Green Rovers. Having been held to a 1-1 draw at nine-man Eastbourne Borough, Quakers were in need of a convincing win and Mark Cooper's side were rarely in danger at The Northern Echo Arena. They are up to seventh in the Blue Square Premier after recording a 3-0 win which could and should have come by a much greater margin. Cooper's men missed numerous chances before the break having made a a blistering start which saw Chris Senior put Darlington ahead inside the third minute. The striker tucked the ball past keeper James Bittner after Michael Smith has dispossessed a defender and by the 21st minute it was 2-0. This time it came via an own goal from Gavin Caines. The defender deflected the ball past Bittner after Aaron Brown had hoisted the ball forward. Brown was the only new face in the line-up, the left-back recalled with Joe Clarke moving to centre-midfield and Jamie Chandler dropping to the bench. Before the break Liam Hatch was off target with a handful of headers while Smith should have done better when presented with the ball in front of goal but dragged his effort wide. Quakers lost some of their momentum as the half wore on but Paul Arnison went close. The right-back let fly with a left-footed volley from 20 yards. Darlington were sluggish at the beginning of the second half, just as they were in last week's draw at Eastbourne. Supporters might have feared the worst, especially when Forest Green began to make an in-roads with Caines firing an effort narrowly wide and then keeper Sam Russell was called into action. He made a save to deny striker Reece Styche who had been presented with a one-on-one. The save was only Russell's second of the game, the first coming before the break, after a poor goal, but Quakers' dominance eventually returned. Arnison tried again for his first goal of the season, cracking a right-footed drive from 30 yards that Bittner tipped away. It was a spectacular effort and fine save withy Darlington's new-found urgency coming following the appearance on the sidelines of substitutes Chandler and Curtis Main. Chandler replaced Clarke on 72 minutes and soon after his first goal in senior football to celebrate. The former Sunderland youngster charged forward to get on the end of a pass from Martin Smith, who had taken the ball past a defender on the right, to tuck the ball past Bittner. The goal sealed the points for Quakers who were simply too strong for Forest Green. The visitors were reduced to ten men in injury time, Lee Fowler shown a red card by referee Peter Bankes for serious foul play after bringing down Hatch. Goals: Senior (3, 1-0), Cains og (11, 2-0), Chandler (83, 3-0) Bookings: M Smith (65, foul); Herring (67, foul), M Fowler (78, foul), Styche (90, foul) Sending-off: L Fowler (90, serious foul play) Referee: Peter Bankes (Merseyside) Attendance: 1,520 Darlington (4-3-3): Russell; Arnison, Hone, Austin, Brown; Clarke (Chandler 72), Terry (McReady 90), G Smith; M Smith, Senior (Main 81); Hatch. Subs (not used): Moore, J Gray Forest Green (4-4-1-1): Bittner; Herring, Jones, Caines, McDonald; L Fowler, M Fowler, Gill (Bartlett 65), Else (Dyer 46, Smith 49)); Klukowski; Styche. Subs (not used): Armstrong, Grimes

Source: Northern_Echo