This was another long trip into the unknown for us but it was well worth the journey in the end as we came back with a good win which now puts us into the last 16 of the Heart Foundation Cup. To come away with the win with such a depleted squad was testament to the lads that we had playing for us on the day.
Sacriston started the game well and although we were playing against a considerable wind we looked very dangerous and played with great speed and movement in the forward areas with Grayson, Coates & Horner causing problems.
On 25 minutes Grayson did well down the right hand side before cutting the ball back to Coates on the edge of the penalty area who then rushed his attempted shot when he had all the time in the world and the chance had gone.
Then on 27 minutes Sacriston did take the lead when Coates broke away from the Darlington defence at speed from midfield on the right before squaring the ball across the box beautifully to his strike partner John Harrison who finished clinically with a first time right footed shot which went into the bottom left hand corner of the net.
Sacriston continued to dominate with Jacob Horner being particularly impressive in central midfield and he started the attack which led to the next big chance on 35 minutes. Horner passed the ball to Ryan Grayson who slipped a through ball to Coates who was through one on one with the Darlington keeper but Coates tame shot was well saved. Greg Coates did well during the game considering he was partially injured and lacking match fitness and I am sure if he was fitter the game would have been all but over by half time.
Darlington had their first real chance in the game when the impressive number 9 got away down the right hand side and carried the ball into the box only to drag his shot well wide.
Ryan Grayson did well in starting and nearly finishing the next move just before half time but his shot was well saved by the Darlington keeper who was to prove a thorn in our side throughout the match.
Half time came and went and Sacriston for some reason started the 2nd half terribly and we were far too slow in possession and just eased off everywhere in the field and Darlington got level on 52 minutes. Some lax passing led to the ball being played back towards Rob Draper who all of a sudden found himself being the last man and he then made a hash of his clearance which allowed the number 10 from Darlington to get through and he finished superbly to make it 1-1.
To be fair this woke Sacriston up and we dominated the next 20 minutes of the game and played with the same intensity that we had in the first half. On 64 minutes Sacriston went 2-1 up when good pressing forced the Darlington left back into a back pass towards his own keeper which was way too short and was intercepted on the run by Harrison who took the ball round the keeper before passing the ball into the now empty net. It was a superbly well taken goal which Harrison made look far easier than it was.
Sacriston pressed hard for the 3rd which would have killed the game off but the goalkeeper pulled off some tremendous saves to keep them in it. Then on 76 minutes Darlington levelled the game again. Gary Draper got caught in possession in central midfield although I did feel he was fouled and with several players out of position the Darlington number 9 all of a sudden found himself running in on goal with our 2 centre halves Rob Draper & O’Brien in pursuit but he did well keeping his cool before finishing superbly.
This was a big shock but Sacriston came back hard again pressing for the winner which came on 85 minutes. Grant Boyd’s excellent tackle allowed Jacob Horner to dribble with the ball right at the heart of the Darlington defence before passing to Harrison who did brilliantly to find half a yard of space in a crowded penalty box before drilling his right foot shot like an hour low into the bottom left hand corner of the net to complete his hat trick on his season’s debut.
That proved to be the winning goal and Harrison had a superb match and he gave the team a real physical presence to play off combined with some deadly finishing which got us the win in the end.
Overall a good win with encouraging performances from our youngsters Grayson & Horner who had a real effect on the match.
