Darlington threw away a disciplined first half performance last night as Steve Staunton`s side fell apart in the last half hour of the game which saw Morecambe come away from the north east with a comprehensive 4-0 victory.
Steve Staunton decided to go with the 4-4-2 formation that had brought Darlo their last 2 home wins. James Collins was restored to the side up front and he was partnered by Simon Thomas who switched from the flank to a striking role. Jeff Smith kept his place out wide in midfield despite a string of non descript performances of late while Nathan Mulligan was brought into the side on the other wing as Quakers looked to get more width into their game.
In defence no changes were made as Darlington went with the same back 4 and keeper who conceded 5 against Chesterfield at the weekend. Experienced defender Mark Bower was once again named amongst the substitutes.
Gary Smith was surprisingly left out of the starting eleven as the Darlo management team of Staunton and Richardson decided to go with the youthful pairing of David Davis and Jonathan Hogg in the middle of the park. For me Gary Smith has been the Quakers best midfield this term so to leave the former Brentford man out of a struggling team seemed to be a strange move.
Darlington once again had quite a youthful bench with Josh Gray, Curtis Main and Dan Groves all named in the 18 man match day squad. Gray has been given few opportunities in the senior side this season despite a number of encouraging cameo performances and the young left winger must surely come into the reckoning for a starting place given how poorly the first team are currently performing.
Darlo X1
Liversedge
Barnes Foster Miller Giddings
Mulligan Davis Hogg J.Smith
Thomas Collins
Subs
Jones, Bower, G.Smith, Groves, Gray, Diop, Main
Quakers started the game reasonably and were able to match Morecambe in the opening stages of this encounter. Jeff Smith was causing some problems for the Shrimps defence and he had 3 chances to fire Darlo into the lead but the former Carlisle United midfielder was unable to find the back of the net.
Neither side were able to create a many attacking opportunities in the first half of this encounter. The consensus amongst fans at half time was that the game could go either way as it seemed to be a match between 2 poor sides of similar ability battling away on a cold blustery night in the north east. Neither side make any changes to their tactics or personnel at the interval.
Phil Jevons the Shrimps top scorer fired his side into the lead on 55 minutes when he found the bottom corner of the net from the left hand side of the area after a couple of defensive mistakes by the home side. Jonathan Hogg elected to pass the ball to Corey Barnes in his own penalty area rather than just clearing the ball to safety and when Barnes mis-controlled the pass Jevons fired home.
Steve Staunton reacted to the goal immediately sending Mor Diop on up front in the place of the hapless Simon Thomas. Diop appears to be the clubs most gifted forward so keeping the Frenchman on the bench when the team is struggling even if he is not 100% match fit seems a strange decision. Diop showed some nice link up play as soon as he entered the action. However Morecambe doubled their lead on 10 minutes later when Laurence Wilson fired home after a superb run down the left flank. Wilson flew past young full back Barnes like he wasn`t there as the Morecambe wing back raced into the area.
Quakers spirits seemed to drop after the 2nd goal went in and a few supporters decided to head home now that their team were 2 goals down. Dan Groves and Josh Gray were both introduced just after the 2nd goal went in however it was a case of too little too late as it was going to take a huge effort from his either youngster to turn this game around.
Gray did show some a few nice touches on the left flank however Darlo struggled to create any openings for their front men which led to James Collins having to drop into midfield in search of the ball. Morecambe`s small away following were now fully behind their team and they had something else to cheer when Stewart Drummond tapped home from a few yards out after the Quakers defence had failed to clear a corner.
Many of the 1,698 fans who attended this game had left the Arena when Nick Liversedge completely missed a pass back which gave substitute Wayne Curtis what has to be the easiest goal he will ever score in the Football League as he rolled the ball into the empty net to give the Shrimps a 4-0 away win.
Darlington do not have a League 2 game this weekend which could be a blessing in disguise as the players need to put this performance to the back of their minds. However if Quakers do not put in a much improved performance when they take on free scoring Notts County at Meadow Lane next Tuesday evening Darlo could be on the end of another rather one sided score line.
