Darlington 9 v 0 Morpeth - Morpeth came with high expectations as they felt they had their strongest team of the season.

Those thoughts were soon exstinguished, as it took Darlington 40 seconds to get the ball into the back of the net.

The first penalty corner of the game, saw an Alderson strike slam against the back board, with Morpeth keeper still trying to work out where the ball had gone.

Two minutes later IIthuralde was to add his name to the score sheet with an amazing strike from the top right hand side of the 'D', which ended up in the roof of the net.

The 17 year old continues to add spectacular strikes to his tally of goals.

Darlington maintained the pressure throughout the first half. Handley and Hardy controlled the middle of the field and broke forward with confidence and control.

The third goal for Darlington came from the stick of Richings who latched onto cross from the right and slotted the ball home passed the helpless Morpeth keeper.

Although Ilthuralde scored perhaps the most exciting goal of the game, the forth goal for Darlington was certainly the most creative. Handly was the key instagator in this goal as he received and delivered a series of passes with Fisher, Hardy and Tenwick. After this clever move, Handley found himself at the top of the Morpeth 'D' and instead of going for goal himself he laid the ball off to Wilson who promptly hit the ball into the back of the net. Darlington were to add a further two goals before half time, with Alderson getting his second through a penalty flick and Fisher reacting first to a Wilson shot which had rebounded off the Morpeth goalkeeper.

The second half should have seen Darlington double their number of goals, but Morpeth began to push more to try and at least come away from Eastbourne with a goal. The Darlington goalkeeper Boyle had other ideas and he pulled off the saves when he was called upon.

Alderson took the pressure of the Darlington team when he scored his hat-trick mid-way through the second half. He received the ball from a Fisher free-hit and then calmly with a reverse strike placed the ball through the goal-keepers legs into the goal. Goals eight and nine came from two Darlington youngsters. Tenwick was in the right place at the right time and he tapped the ball into the net at the back post after the ball had been fired across the goal from the right. Ilthuralde was to get his second in a similar fashion to his first, but this time the strike at the top of the 'D' was fired low and hard into the corner of the goal.

The 9-0 victory for Darlington helps them maintain the pressure upon league leaders Sunderland, who at present seem to be unstoppable. The encouraging factors for Darlington are that they are now beginning to have consistency regarding the team and several youngsters are pushing into the first team.

Next week sees Darlington travel to Newcastle to play Newcastle Medics, a team which has proved to be a hard one to beat in the past.

Darlington: Boyle, Ithurralde, Alderson (capt), Fisher, Handley, Townend, Richings, Wilson, Rumpfit, Johnson, Little, Tenwick, Hardy.