Ferryhill Town Youth 4 Darlington Under 23s 3

Our Under 23s lost a league game for the first time this season when they were beaten 4-3 at Ferryhill on Saturday.

They struggled to cope with the home side’s direct football and were 4-0 down before a late revival just failed to salvage a point.

Manager Grant Cuthbertson said; “We’re disappointed! We allowed Ferryhill to bully us in the first half and didn’t deal with them defensively. We didn’t stick to our game plan and allowed the opposition to dictate the pace of the game.

"Second half I reaffirmed what we needed to do and wanted a reaction. I got that from the first minute of the second half and if it wasn’t for the theatrics and bravery of the home team keeper we would have run out winners but Ferryhill dug deep.

"We just weren’t good enough and we learn from the lessons we have been dealt with today and it’s now about our reaction at home on Wednesday.”

Ferryhill posed an even bigger physical test than our last opponents, with a small pitch and a route one style of play. They broke the deadlock, powering home a nicely whipped corner with a strong header. They were shortly at the double with a simple over the top ball not dealt with and finished well.

The boys’ heads started to go and this would be a real test of character for them, but another route one ball came through and wasn’t dealt with for a swung volley that lobbed the keeper and Ferryhill went in 3-0 at the break.

Darlington came out the traps creating chance after chance without putting it in the back of the net, but you could see they were raring to go and right at it. However, a ball over the top (the theme of the day) went through to their striker who snapped a shot at it, a wild deflection looped it over the keeper and it was 4-0.

The boys responded quickly and grabbed their first of the game through Stevie Dawson, grabbing the ball straight out the net and speeding up the restart to show their desire. He got through on goal again and was wiped out by the goalkeeper for a penalty, Jack Mortimer slotted home for 4-2 now. Mortimer was quickly at the double to make it 4-3 and the momentum was with us. The boys created chances right till the end but just couldn’t grab the finish they needed and it ended 4-3 to Ferryhill.

Starting Line-up:
Liam Mason, Owen Harvey, Jack Mortimer, Oliver Walters, Steve Dawson, Matthiew Kiro, Owen Smith, Alfie Fawcett, Ethan Cuthbertson, Will Maddison, Thomas Southwood

Subs: Jake Patterson, Isko, Thomas Martin, Alfie Robinson, Adam Glew, Isko, Toby Sparrow

The Under 23s next game is at home to Coundon Cons on Wednesday night, kick off 7pm