Source: Northern_Echo
Bath City 2 Darlington 2
Bath City 2 Darlington 2 SITTING in the dug-out gazing out across the Twerton Park pitch but focusing on nothing in particular, Mark Cooper's body language said it all after Saturday's injury-time nightmare. For the third consecutive away game his team had thrown away a lead, but this time in the most dramatic manner imaginable. They conceded two goals in injury-time after leading 2-0 in the 90th minute and being comfortably in control against lowly Bath City. At full-time the Darlington manager made a few salient points to his shell-shocked team in the dressing room before returning to the white-painted brick dug-out to gather his thoughts about what went wrong before addressing the media to explain the latest away-day misery. Two weeks ago, after the embarrassing draw at Eastbourne Borough, when Quakers failed to beat a team who played for an hour with nine men and had a midfielder in goal, Cooper chose not to speak to the press for fear of making a knee-jerk reaction and saying something out of turn. This time around such concerns were redundant as the manager was stumped. For once in my life I am speechless, I don't know what to say, he admitted. I just didn't see it coming. We were 2-0 up and comfortable, really cruising. I don't think there is anything you can say, really, apart from the game was in the bag after 90 minutes and it was the best team that was 2-0 up. In clear criticism of substitutes Curtis Main and Josh Gray, who in the closing stages had replaced Liam Hatch and Michael Smith, Cooper said: When you take your best players off and the replacements do not have the desired effect then you're running the risk of playing with nine players. The substitutes that you put on have got to make a difference. Last week we put Jamie Chandler on and he scored. Chandler's reward was a return to the team, selected ahead of Joe Clarke, but there was no Leon Knight due to a hitch with his proposed signing. Cooper's team went 1-0 up on 25 minutes when Chris Senior showed a nice piece of skill to lift the ball over defender Gethin Jones before heading past stranded keeper Ryan Robinson. It was his third goal in as many games and Quakers' only first-half chance. However, Bath were also ineffective, giving keeper Sam Russell only one save to make, a tame Lee Phillips effort that just about reached the goalline. As Cooper said, for the most part Darlington had been the best team, certainly during the second period, and once Hatch had made it 2-0 on 69 minutes the contest appeared as good as over. Hatch drilled home a thunderous effort from 20 yards after being played in by Senior, who had struck the post early in the second half. For the remaining time a confident Quakers began playing keep-ball, passing it around inside their own half, while despondent Bath fans headed for the exit. But in the 94th minute Quakers demonstrated a lack of concentration straight from the Titus Bramble school of defending. They simply switched off, were unable to defend a throw-in and up popped Lewis Hogg to pass the ball past Russell with Bath's first meaningful shot on target. Only a consolation though, surely No. Less than 60 seconds later Quakers lost possession from the kick-off, afforded sub Hector Mackie too much space and he curled an effort from the corner of the penalty area over Russell. On another day Cooper might have contested the referee's decision to play six minutes of injury-time, but on Saturday his only targets were his players. He said: Usually your worst footballers with the ball at their feet are your centrebacks, so if you keep giving them the ball then you are asking for trouble. If you want to pass the ball about at 2-0 up then you should do it at the front end of the pitch. We decided to pass it between the two centre halves, which I found strange. If the players want to win games then they need to listen to what I am telling them because I know how to win games at this level. There is only so much as a manager and a coach that you can do. The players have to take a little bit of responsibility. They've been shown how to do it, they know how we play and they know how to get results, but they haven't done it. So they're either thick or stupid. Cooper can at least console himself with the knowledge his team remains unbeaten away from home and undefeated in five consecutive matches. That represents Darlington's best run since January 2009, a spell that included a 5-1 win over Luton Town, who are tomorrow night's visitors to The Northern Echo Arena. Scoreboard Goals: 0-1: Senior (25, headed over the keeper after lifting the ball over a defender) 0-2: Hatch (0-2, rifled the ball into the net from the edge of the penalty area) 1-2: Hogg (1-2, passed the ball into the corner from around ten yards) 2-2: Mackie (2-2, right-footed curling effort from the corner of the penalty area) Booking: Hone (35, foul) Referee: Steven Cook (Woking) Not to blame for the six minutes of injury-time as there were five substitutions and a handful of injuries 7 Attendance: 951 Entertainment: BATH CITY (4-4-2): Robinson 6; J Edwards 5 (Mackie 76), Jones 6 (Rollo 81), Webb 7, Jombati 6; SIMPSON 7, Canham 5, Connolly 5, Hogg 7; Phillips 5 (D Edwards 83), Mohamed 6. Subs (not used): Harris, Hart DARLINGTON (4-3-3): 7 Russell: Dealt well with a series of crosses and could not be blamed for either goal; 6 Arnison: Played on despite sustaining a second-half injury after receiving a kick on the ankle 7 Hone: Unfairly booked during the first half for a high foot when he was going for the ball 6 Austin: Won just about everything in the air, though it was from the throw he conceded that Bath scored their first 6 Brown: Simpson on Bath's right-wing gave him a tough time 6 Terry: Quietly efficient with the ball though not as influential as usual 7 Chandler: Good display, but a better touch in the dying seconds and he could have been the hero 6 G Smith: Put in plenty of tackles and kept possession with plenty of short passing; 6 M Smith: Pushed off the ball a couple of times on a frustrating day for the youngster 7 Hatch: Suffered a broken nose but Cooper said it was his best game of the season 7 SENIOR: Scored a goal, hit the post and and teed up Hatch for his goal Subs: J Gray (for M Smith 84) Main (for Hatch 87) (not used): Thompson (gk), McReady, Clarke MAN OF THE MATCH CHRIS Senior Had a slow start to the season but is enjoying a purple patch now.