Post by Rio Doherty on Dec 6, 2019 7:56:59 GMT
We kick-off a traditionally hectic month tomorrow where we will make the journey to County Durham to play Darlington away in our search for a fourth consecutive win. Given our poor record in these parts we will have to put on a strong performance, but hopefully we will take inspiration from last season’s 1-0 victory which was in fact our last win in the North East. Compared to Darlo we have had a full week to prepare for this clash, as they suffered a humiliating 3-0 defeat at Leamington on Tuesday which adds to their recent drop in form. We are putting together a strong run of form just in time for Christmas, so in my opinion we should be winning this game considering the big gap between us and our opponents.
Our last match was last Saturday where we narrowly beat Bradford (Park Avenue) AFC 2-1 at home. It wasn’t pretty, but I thought that we were the better side on the day and were worthy of our win. The first half was quite frustrating as we had plenty of possession, but Bradford were a stubborn side who got men behind the ball. It was Bradford (Park Avenue) AFC who took the lead as Billy Priestley poked in from a corner to make it 1-0. Meanwhile, the second period was much better as we managed to unlock Avenue’s defence by creating dangerous openings. The start of the half was rather frantic as we scored two goals in a handful of minutes to turn the match around. Firstly, Anthony Dudley slotted the ball past Joe Green when one-on-one for us to make it 1-1. Then, Akwasi Asante netted a blockbuster to make it 2-1 to us as his inch-perfect hit dipped over Green on the edge of the box, although it didn’t seem to take a ‘’massive deflection’’ like Mark Bower claimed. Just moments later we almost put the game to bed as Akwasi Asante had another attempt where his shot bounced off the crossbar and onto the line. With moments to spare, Bradford (Park Avenue) AFC were reduced to 10 men as Isaac Marriott was sent off following a rash tackle on Gary Stopforth. Our one man advantage was worth it as we secured another great result.
Darlington have had a very inconsistent season thus far, and one that is below their supporters’ expectations. Darlo currently sit in 15th place, but given the strong squad and manager they have, they are underachieving as many people at the start of the campaign predicted them to be in the top 10. Our opponents landed Alun Armstrong as their new manager during the Summer having done a fantastic job at Blyth Spartans, and with him he has brought the likes of Jarrett Rivers and Michael Liddle from there, and snapped up Will Hatfield from Guiseley who were all deemed as good signings. Darlington got off to a slow start as only 3 wins in their first 11 games saw them languish in the lower reaches of mid table. In recent times their form has shot up as between September and October they notched 6 consecutive wins which saw them fly up the table. Despite that though, Darlo have been underperforming again over the past few weeks as only 1 win in 7 has saw them plummet back down the table. Due to this, Darlington will be desperate to rediscover their brilliant form two months ago, so they will try to cause us problems.
Due to last season’s initial match at Darlington being postponed I was unable to make the rearranged fixture, so this will be my first visit to Blackwell Meadows. It certainly is a far cry from their previous homes at the Darlington Arena and Feethams, and I’m sure that their supporters will be feeling so. For us it is a decent chance to put another three points on the board in our hunt to capitalise on York City’s wobble. Up The Seals!
Score: Darlington 0-2 Chester FC (Ngwatala, Asante)
Attendance: 1,507 (225 Chester FC)
My predicted lineup:
Griffiths
Morgan Livesey Grand Taylor
Jackson Glendon Stopforth Ngwatala
Dudley Asante
COYB!
Our last match was last Saturday where we narrowly beat Bradford (Park Avenue) AFC 2-1 at home. It wasn’t pretty, but I thought that we were the better side on the day and were worthy of our win. The first half was quite frustrating as we had plenty of possession, but Bradford were a stubborn side who got men behind the ball. It was Bradford (Park Avenue) AFC who took the lead as Billy Priestley poked in from a corner to make it 1-0. Meanwhile, the second period was much better as we managed to unlock Avenue’s defence by creating dangerous openings. The start of the half was rather frantic as we scored two goals in a handful of minutes to turn the match around. Firstly, Anthony Dudley slotted the ball past Joe Green when one-on-one for us to make it 1-1. Then, Akwasi Asante netted a blockbuster to make it 2-1 to us as his inch-perfect hit dipped over Green on the edge of the box, although it didn’t seem to take a ‘’massive deflection’’ like Mark Bower claimed. Just moments later we almost put the game to bed as Akwasi Asante had another attempt where his shot bounced off the crossbar and onto the line. With moments to spare, Bradford (Park Avenue) AFC were reduced to 10 men as Isaac Marriott was sent off following a rash tackle on Gary Stopforth. Our one man advantage was worth it as we secured another great result.
Darlington have had a very inconsistent season thus far, and one that is below their supporters’ expectations. Darlo currently sit in 15th place, but given the strong squad and manager they have, they are underachieving as many people at the start of the campaign predicted them to be in the top 10. Our opponents landed Alun Armstrong as their new manager during the Summer having done a fantastic job at Blyth Spartans, and with him he has brought the likes of Jarrett Rivers and Michael Liddle from there, and snapped up Will Hatfield from Guiseley who were all deemed as good signings. Darlington got off to a slow start as only 3 wins in their first 11 games saw them languish in the lower reaches of mid table. In recent times their form has shot up as between September and October they notched 6 consecutive wins which saw them fly up the table. Despite that though, Darlo have been underperforming again over the past few weeks as only 1 win in 7 has saw them plummet back down the table. Due to this, Darlington will be desperate to rediscover their brilliant form two months ago, so they will try to cause us problems.
Due to last season’s initial match at Darlington being postponed I was unable to make the rearranged fixture, so this will be my first visit to Blackwell Meadows. It certainly is a far cry from their previous homes at the Darlington Arena and Feethams, and I’m sure that their supporters will be feeling so. For us it is a decent chance to put another three points on the board in our hunt to capitalise on York City’s wobble. Up The Seals!
Score: Darlington 0-2 Chester FC (Ngwatala, Asante)
Attendance: 1,507 (225 Chester FC)
My predicted lineup:
Griffiths
Morgan Livesey Grand Taylor
Jackson Glendon Stopforth Ngwatala
Dudley Asante
COYB!
