I along with all other Darlington fans have had better weekends. Everywhere I've gone people have wanted to know what went wrong on Saturday.

All I can say is that we were beaten by a very good side who I'm sure will go on and win promotion this year.

We deserve every bit of criticism thrown at us as the performance on Saturday was nothing short of gutless.

From start to finish we were second best and the result could have been a lot worse.

In this game you learn to take the rough with the smooth. The same fixture has given me the highlight of my career, scoring in our play-off semi-final, and now it has given me the most humiliating result of my career.

Although it's hard, we have to get on with things and hopefully we can put the score right at Feethams in the return fixture.

Elsewhere in the Premiership, David Beckham seems likely to get away with what appeared to be an elbow on Lee Bowyer at the weekend. No one other than Beckham will know if it was intentional or not, but a lot of other players will be feeling hard done by if the England skipper is seen to get away with it.

I know a lot of Hartlepool fans were complaining that I had elbowed both Gordon Watson and Eifion Williams on Saturday, but I can honestly say I never intentionally elbowed either player.

Things can look different from the stands but I spoke to both players during the game and neither player had a problem.

Derby games are physical encounters and you have to look after yourself when your out there.

Yes, it does get a bit heated at times, but on the whole nothing really went on that shouldn't have on Saturday - after all we have our lunches in the same canteen as the Hartlepool players most days.

Speaking of Gordon Watson I was sad to hear on Saturday night that he had broken his leg during the game.

Having broken my leg last year I know how he must be feeling. The one consolation is that it is not the leg he has previously broken, and he should be back by Christmas.

I hope he makes a full and speedy recovery.

This weekend sees the first Tyne-Wear derby of the season. There is always a few side bets in our dressing room as there are a few fans in both camps.

Being a Newcastle fan I am quietly confident of making a few quid - I'm even offering any Sunderland takers the draw as well.

One result that did go my way over the weekend was the Middlesbrough under 11's win over Sunderland.

At that age the result isn't the important thing, it is the development of the kids, but I must admit it is still nice to win.

Some of the talent the youngsters have is unbelievable and a joy to watch. I might try dragging the Darlo lads down to see if we can get a few tips before we take on Hartlepool again!

Published: 17/09/2002