When riding the crest of a wave, it is inevitable that the
wave will eventually break. So it was with Darlington’s impressive start to
their Northern League campaign. On a perfect late summer evening with a
terrific playing surface to match, Guisborough’s drive, determination and
greater attacking edge secured an unlikely three points in front of the home
side’s biggest ever Northern League crowd.
If my account of events is patchy, particularly regarding the
first half, it is because I was occupied with selling raffle tickets around the
ground. The visiting fans (as well as the large number of locals and neutrals
who had turned up) willingly dipped their hands into their pockets to further
swell the club’s coffers on a highly profitable evening. By non-league
standards, Darlington are a big club. But none of their supporters carried this
mentality with them to the game. I found them to be a credit to their club.
They took the opportunity to have a prematch beer and some grub and to take in
the atmosphere which quickly built up as more than 1300 supporters poured into
the ground.
I have watched Guisborough for more than a quarter of a
century and only once can I recall a crowd bigger, when Leek Town arrived for an
FA Cup Fourth Qualifying replay in front of the BBC’s Match of the Day
cameras. This is more than twenty years
ago at a time where I could only just see over the barriers separating the
pitch from supporters and struggled to even find a spot amongst the 2000
supporters that attended. On that night it took a volleyed Neil Hodgson goal to
finally break more than four hours of stalemate and send Guisborough through to
a First Round tie against Bury at Ayresome Park.
Whilst last night’s game did not carry the same importance
as the Leek fixture, it was a big game for the home players. They looked
confident from the word go. Buoyed by a last minute winner against Crook Town
three days previously, Guisborough’s passing was slick and their movement off
the ball was a constant threat. In the early exchanges, Bythway’s willingness to
c ome short for the ball drew Darlington’s central defence out of position and
allowed fellow striker McPhillips to run into the holes created. Allied with
this, the tenacious Austin Johnson made runs from deep and the visitors were
quickly on their heels. It was far from one way traffic. Purewal made dangerous
runs forward, as did fellow winger Emms. From reading reports on Darlington
this season, they have appeared at their most dangerous when utilising their pace
and width on the flanks. But the two wide men were starved of service as
Guisborough’s five men across the middle nullified any attempts to push
forward. Darlington looked vulnerable
from set-plays and from a McPhillips cross Johnson headed the Priorymen into
the lead. The visiting fans – some of whom were still arriving – may have been
surprised but perhaps saw this as merely a bump in the road. But the bump
quickly grew in size as McPhillips added a second having been denied minutes previously
by a brilliant save from Norton.
“Anyone for the half-time draw?” I enquired. “Three prizes –
a bottle of red wine...cans of stella and a meat draw”.
“I’ll take the draw” said one Darlington fan. “On the pitch
that is”. It was another example of the visiting fans’ ability to take things
in their stride. “The fans have turned up but the players haven’t” he added. He
then bought some raffle tickets and politely informed me with a chuckle at the
end of the game that he didn’t win that either.
Having squandered further chances, I wondered whether half-time
would represent a watershed. Guisborough’s momentum could be abruptly halted by
a half time interval. Darlington had the chance to regroup and to make changes.
It could have been the proverbial game of two halves.
Yet the second half began almost where the first had left
off. Naturally, the visitors did more of the pressing and Guisborough were more
content to sit tight and to break at pace. But Darlington struggled to puncture
the home defence. They pressed, they pushed and they passed with more intensity
but when they finally eluded the home defence ‘keeper Ben Escritt was on hand
to save smartly.
With twenty minutes remaining, a moment of brilliance from
Luke Bythway almost sealed the game. As he ghosted past his marker, Bythway
spotted visiting keeper Norton off his line. His effort from forty yards was
creeping beneath the crossbar, but somehow Norton scrambled back to tip over
the bar. No matter. Captain Lee Bythway clearly decided to put his younger
brother right and from the resulting corner he rose highest to head home. Still
Guisborough did not sit on their lead and in the closing stages the impressive
Gell surged through on goal. Most players would have shot with just the
goalkeeper to beat, but spotting Johnson’s run Gell unselfishly squared the
ball to gift his fellow midfielder his second goal.
There was time for Darlington to score a late goal through a
neat finish from Nicholls, but the goal came half an hour too late. It was a
mere consolation and could do little to erase the dominance of the scoreline or
of Guisborough’s performance.
As the shockwaves reverberated around the non-league
community, there were more knee jerk reactions than in a Doctor’s surgery. But
this was one game. Guisborough fully deserved the points, but two days ago
Darlington had won every game. Whilst it was a sobering experience for the
visiting fans, a win on Saturday against Consett will quickly erase memories of
this defeat.
I don’t suppose many Darlington fans thought their campaign
would be trouble-free. This acted as confirmation. But there is still every
chance of the Quakers being in the mix at the end of the season. This shouldn’t
do too much to shake this belief.
For now, I’ll enjoy
the win and allow my voice to recover after saying the words ‘meat draw’ at
least three hundred times in the space of an hour. That – like the crowd – must
be some sort of record.
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