Darlington 1 Hinckley United 1

THE first training sessions under the new Darlington manager, whoever he turns out to be, could well involve some shooting practice.

They have scored only 18 goals in 18 league games and Saturday’s 1-1 draw at home to Hinckley United was a typical example of the team’s lack of cutting edge.

They held the vast majority of possession during their FA Cup fourth qualifying round tie, but spurned plenty of scoring opportunities, so now face a replay in Leicestershire.

Quakers play at the Green King Stadium tomorrow, by which time either of the leading contenders to replace Mark Cooper – Colin Cooper and Craig Liddle – could be in place, with the winners at home to Tamworth on November 12.

That is two weeks before the Lambs head to The Northern Echo Arena for a league game, though as Hinckley and Tamworth are separated by only 17 miles, tomorrow evening’s game has taken on extra significance for the Knitters.

But for now Darlington will be focusing on overcoming Hinckley at the second attempt.

A continuation of Saturday’s showing would be a good start as caretaker boss Liddle coaxed an improved display from the team, albeit against a side from the lower reaches of the division below.

Quakers saw plenty of the ball and visiting goalkeeper Dan Haystead was kept occupied with one of his first tasks being to collect the ball from the back of the net.

Ryan Bowman slotted home in the fourth minute from the edge of the penalty area after a cross by John Campbell, one of five players recalled into the team.

But Hinckley were soon allowed to level, Sam Belcher dribbling unchallenged into the penalty area before firing low past Sam Russell.

Thereafter Darlington were on top but were profligate in front of goal.

“The finishing was poor, we can’t hide from that,” admitted Liddle. “In terms of workrate, desire and effort, every single one of them gave their lot and that’s all I asked of them before the game. I know there were a few disgruntled fans, but I couldn’t fault the players’ effort.

“When our goal went in I think everyone in the stadium thought ‘here we go, we’ll go on and get two or three’. But we conceded a sloppy goal straightaway and that upset us a bit.

“We were all over the shop for five or ten minutes, but once we got composed we got better, we just couldn’t get a goal.”

Liddle made five changes from the side that lost a week previously at Braintree Town – Mark Cooper’s final game – and opted for the same 4-2-1-3 formation that he uses at youth team level.

Also implemented from Liddle’s successful youth team, who won a Durham Challenge Cup tie 2-0 at Stockton Town on Saturday to make it 11 wins out of their last 12 games, was a selection of setpiece routines.

The closest Quakers came to getting a goal from one saw Campbell miscue from a central position in the penalty area after a corner, and Liddle said: “Maybe John could’ve scored.

“The youth team have scored ten or 12 goals from set-plays this season and I tried to get the boys today to believe that it could work for them. One or two worked and one or two didn’t.

“Kris Taylor got down the side of their wall in the second half, but didn’t get enough on the cut-back. You’ve got to try things like that, especially in tight games like this. That little bit of creativity can win you the game.”

For all that, Darlington were on top against a stubborn outfit, the visitors created a couple of opportunities of their own.

Lloyd Kerry’s perfect rightwing cross was wastefully headed wide by an unmarked Belcher, and the same player later saw Russell save a shot with his feet.

Darlington frequently cut through the visiting defence, but Liam Hatch, Campbell and Bowman all saw efforts either saved by Haystead or go off target and when Hatch finally found the net it was ruled offside.

Quakers’ troubles in front of goal were epitomised in the closing stages when Hatch, who has not scored since the first day of the season, was played into a one-on-one situation by Chandler, but blasted wide “I think Hinckley will be a little bit more open on Tuesday and hopefully there’ll be more space for us to play in and exploit. I’ll be very surprised if they sit back like they did today,” added Liddle.

“We knew how they were going to set up, but unfortunately we just couldn’t break them down and on another day we could have won the game comfortably. We could not take our chances.”

Matchfacts

Goals: 1-0: Bowman (4, found the bottom corner from outside the penalty area after taking down a Campbell leftwing cross); 1-1: Belcher (10, allowed to dribble forward in a central position before unleashing a low shot past Russell from the edge of the penalty area)

Bookings: K Taylor (45, foul); Bridge- Wilkinson (55, foul); Arnison (67, foul); Oddy (72, foul); Raglan (84, foul)

Referee: Scott Duncan (Newcastle): Allowed the game to flow and neither side had any serious complaints 7

Attendance: 1,177

Entertainment: 􀁉􀁉􀁉􀁉􀁉􀁉􀁉

DARLINGTON (4-2-1-3):

6 Russell: Unable to deal with a couple of early corners, but made an important save from Belcher in the second half;
7 Arnison: Lost possession cheaply a couple of times, but supported the attack very well in what stands as a rare outing at right-back this season
7 G Taylor: Switched from rightback to cover for Geohagon’s absence and did not let anybody down
7 Lee: Responded to Cooper’s disparaging “old fogies” comment last week in the best manner possible, by putting in a sold display
6 Brown: Did not get as forward as much as he’s known for and his cross tally was not as high as expected;
8 CHANDLER: The captain was Darlington’s driving force in midfield and a couple of surging runs almost created goals
6 K Taylor: Returned to the centre of midfield where he saw plenty of the ball and was not shy of having a long-range pop at goal;
6 Bridge-Wilkinson: Flashes of his creativity were in evidence as he returned after four games on the sidelines;
7 Bowman: Used his pace to good affect before the break and grabbed his fourth goal of the season very early on
5 Hatch: A little restricted in his movement due to being in the middle of a three-man attack, and wasted a great one-on-one chance late on
6 Campbell: Added pace to the attack and provided the cross for Bowman’s goal, but occasionally lost the ball too easily

Subs: Walshaw (for Bowman 70): Brought on with the aim being to become a match-winner, but was a peripheral figure 5 J Gray (for Campbell 79) (not used): Nixon (gk), Sanchez- Munoz, McReady, Rundle, Hopson

HINCKLEY UNITED (4-4-2): HAYSTEAD 8; Oddy 6, Lavery 5, Raglan 5, Gudger 5 (Dudley 7, 6); Belcher 7, Kerry 7, Gooding 6, Joyce 5 (Clarke 66); Gray 6 (Newton 79), Byrne 5. Subs (not used): Holt, Everton-Richards

MAN OF THE MATCH
 JAMIE Chandler – appears to be relishing being made captain, even if only temporarily