August 17, 2024
This weekend saw the second round of fixtures in National League North, with Oxford City hosting Darlington, who made the short trip from County Durham to Oxfordshire !
Oxford City Latest
Since these diaries covered Oxford City’s first pre-season fixture with Barry Town United, the Hoops had added to their squad with the signings of centre-back Cardo Siddik, who played for Darlington last season, centre-back Cole Kpekawa rejoined after a short loan from Bromley last season, and centre-back/left-back Jacob Reddy permanently returned after being on loan from Charlton Athletic last year. Trialists Corie Andrews and Brad Stretton had been signed on full-time, and during the week winger Louis Walsh signed from Bedford Town after successful trials, and highly rated 17-year-old Aidan Elliott-Wheeler joined on loan from Oxford United.
City’s first National League North fixture involved a trip to Merseyside, where they were indebted to a scrambled injury time equaliser from Brad Stretton to escape with a 1-1 against newly promoted Marine.
Darlington FC History
Darlington FC were originally founded in 1887 with the nickname The Quakers, and for over a century played at Feethams. In 2003 they moved to the 25,000 capacity Darlington Arena, although it was a white elephant and contributed to the club having to go into administration. That, and owner George Reynolds being declared bankrupt and being arrested for tax evasion and jailed for three years !
The Darlington Arena is now owned by Rugby Union side Darlington Mowden Park, who have been featured on three occasions in these diaries through their visits to Chinnor in National League One. Indeed, with Chinnor having signed three DMP players in the past two years it would seem they are local rivals !
Darlington were relegated from the Football League in 1989, but under the management of Brian Little secured an immediate return as Conference Champions, and then won the Fourth Division title for successive promotions. Unfortunately for Darlington, Little left to become manager of Leicester City and their stay at the third level lasted just one season.
Darlington resembled a circus as George Reynolds attempted to sign Paul Gascoigne and Faustino Asprilla in 2002, but it all came to nothing.
After surviving administration, Darlington were relegated to the Conference again at the end of the 2009/10 season, but in their first season back in non-league they won the FA Trophy, beating Mansfield 1-0 at Wembley.
However, that was to prove to be a temporary highlight, and after more financial troubles they were relegated again at the end of the 2011/12 season.
In May 2012 the club was wound-up, and a newly formed side entered the Northern League under the name Darlington 1883.
After ground-sharing at Bishops Auckland for four seasons, Darlington returned to their hometown in 2016 when they moved to Blackwell Meadows, home of Darlington RFC, and have subsequently invested in the facility to be suitable for higher levels on non-league football. The ground now has a capacity of 3,281, with 588 seats. In 2017, the club were given permission to change their name back to Darlington FC.
Darlington had worked their way through the Northern League and the Northern Premier League to earn promotion to National League North for 2016/17, where they have remained ever since.
In their first season at Step 2 Darlington finished 5th but were denied a place in the promotion play-offs due to ground grading issues. Since then, they had only once achieved a top 10 finish, in 2022/23 when they came 10th. Last season they were 16th with an average home attendance of 1,475.
Darlington Match Watched
I saw the previous incarnation of Darlington’s football side on Good Friday on April 1992, when they lost a Division Three encounter 1-4 at Brentford in front of a crowd of 8,383. Hardly a traditional bank holiday fixture !
Brentford started the day in 4th place and went on to become Champions, winning their last four matches to overtake Stoke City, Birmingham and Stockport County. Following the departure of Brian Little, Darlington were bottom and stayed there to be relegated, 16 points from safety.
Dean Holdsworth, who scored 24 goals that season, scored twice, and Gary Blissett netted once, on his way to 17 for the season. Brentford’s other goal was an own goal from Darlo midfielder Andy Tobin. Darlington’s consolation came from Dave Cooke.
The Brentford side that afternoon also included ex-Brighton winger Neil Smillie, who played in the 1983 FA Cup Final, ex-Tottenham and Republic of Ireland full-back Chris Hughton, and a young Marcus Gayle. The major names in the Darlington side were keeper Mark Prudhoe and midfielder Steve Mardenborough.
Darlington This Season
Darlington’s first league fixture ended in a 1-2 home defeat against Kidderminster Harriers, although relegated Harriers are many experts tip to secure a return to the National League. In front of a decent crowd of 1,817, Will Hatfield’s 87th goal was only a consolation.
The Quakers squad for this season features keeper Peter Jameson, whose previous visit to Marsh Lane with Hartlepool last September ended in a 2-5 defeat, and was covered in these diaries.
Striker Cedric Main has Dutch and Surinamese citizenship and previously played for Blyth Spartans. Midfielder Jack Maskell played for Accrington Stanley in League Two, whilst Welsh full-back Scott Barrow had Newport County, Gateshead and York City on his CV.
Right-back Ben Hedley played twice for Morecambe in League Two, forward Jarrett Rivers played 10 times for Blackpool in League One back in 2015, whilst midfielder Cameron Salkeld has played for Morton, Clyde and Ayr United.
Forward Andrew Nelson has played for Sunderland, Dundee and Torquay, and midfielder Will Flint is on loan from Doncaster Rovers.
Darlington’s manager is ex-Newcastle, Aston Villa, Everton, WBA and Sheffield Wednesday full-back/midfielder Steve Watson.
Matchday Information
Darlington’s journey to Oxford was around 220 miles via the A1, M1 and M40, which would normally take around four hours, so they faced over an eight hour round trip. Darlington had brought one supporter’s coach and there were probably around 200 Darlo fans at the match.
The weather at the 15.00 kick-off time was sunny and 22 degrees, but it felt hotter !
Bet365 made Oxford City 4/5 favourites, with Darlington at 13/5 and the draw at 13/5.
This was the first ever meeting between the two sides, although evergreen Jefferson Louis counts both sides amongst the 45 he has turned out for !
Oxford City have made a number of changes to the matchday experience since their relegation from the National League. Perhaps most importantly, since demotion from Step 1, drinks are now allowed to be consumed in sight of the pitch !
Matchday Hospitality is now available in the newly built Exeter Marquee for £30, which includes food, a welcome drink and today speeches from the Oxford City manager Sam Cox and owner Justin Merritt.
Unlike in previous season where there was just a flat entrance charge, for this game seats were £2 more expensive than a place on terrace ( online prices £15 vs £13 for adults ) with an increase of £2 on the day. However, there was no supervision of the seats and people sat wherever they liked regardless of what ticket they had purchased. Next time I think I will purchase a ticket for the terrace !
The match was apparently “soft-segregated”, with the intention that Darlington fans would enter through the main turnstiles and be able go to the bars etc, but were expected to take their places at the far end of the ground. However, in reality this was ignored, and the visiting supporters were free to go where ever they liked, which wasn’t a problem at all.
The matchday programme was £3.50 but there were no team sheets available. I thought I overheard someone say the printer was broken !
At the food hut, a burger was £5.50 and a cheeseburger was £6. A veggie pasty was £4, and a portion of chips were £3.50. When I entered through the turnstile, a DJ was blasting out some music, and at half-time a band was playing behind the main stand and continued playing for several minutes into the second half, which I found very distracting.
Inside the clubhouse, there was no live sport on the TV, and there were no tables and chairs to sit outside in the sunshine and have drink. However, this was possible at the bar behind the main stand.
Both sides made two changes from last week. For Oxford City, Kpekawa and Roddy came in for Zac McEachran and Siddik whilst for Darlington, Hedley and Flint replaced Scott and Sankeld.
With Darlington’s normal black and white hoops clashing with Oxford City’s blue and white hoops, the visitors were playing in purple shirts, white shorts and purple socks.
Match Report
Oxford City almost scored in the opening ten seconds. A long ball found Carbon in space on the right, and his low ball was put out for a corner at the near post by Barrow. After the corner was partially cleared, Parker teed up Stretton, but the shot was blocked.
Parker, Roddy and Potter combined down the left, but the cross was straight to Darlo keeper Jameson. With 7 minutes played, Stretton and Parker combined but Stretton’s shot was blocked and there were appeals for a penalty as he fell to the floor but play continued.
The Quakers first meaningful foray into the opposition half saw Main get into the penalty area, but his shot deflected high over the bar for a corner. Lees rose the highest at the corner, but his contact was poor, and the ball looped high in the air for Oxford City keeper McKenzie-Lyle to claim an easy catch.
Darlington had weathered the early storm and were starting to have some decent possession. They could have opened the scoring in the 11th minute. McKenzie-Lyle came out of his area, but his header was poor and went straight to Main. It looked like the Darlington striker had a straightforward chip over the stranded keeper into the unguarded net, but his effort was weak and comfortably saved by McKenzie-Lyle, not doubt much to his relief. It was a great chance squandered.
The Hoops Josh Ashby then tripped Hatfield just inside the home side’s half and was shown the first yellow card of the game after 13 minutes.
Three minutes later Rivers was found in space on the right, and his low ball into the area found Main, who turned and shot, but his effort was deflected wide for another corner. Although Oxford City partially cleared the corner, it went only as far as Hedley whose drive went through a crowd of players and looked to be going inside the far post until Burley stuck out a leg. However, the loose ball went as far as Forbes, who finished from close range. 0-1 after 18 minutes.
McKenzie-Lyle nearly gifted another goal to the visitors two minutes later when he came out of his area but passed straight to Rivers, but the Darlington midfielder failed to take advantage of the opportunity.
The home side nearly hit back in the 22nd minute but were thwarted by a fine interception by Griffiths after a flowing passing movement featuring Stretton, Parker and Potter saw Stretton put clear by a chip ahead. However, the reprieve for the visitors was only temporary as the corner was worked to Lewis Coyle lurking outside the area, who sent a tremendous left-effort effort whizzing into the keeper’s bottom right-hand corner for the equaliser. There was little Jameson could do to stop that one. 1-1 with 23 minutes played.
The players took a drinks break after 25 minutes, and shortly after when play resumed, at a free-kick to Darlington just inside their half, Griffiths spotted McKenzie-Lyle well off his line, but his attempt to surprise The Hoops goal-minder went well wide of the goal.
A long ball out of the home defence saw Barrow get to the ball ahead of Parker but his header back to his keeper needed a decent diving save from Jameson.
A corner from Ashby was sent just a fraction too high for Jones to get on the end of, and a minute later, a strong tackle mid-way inside their own half saw Darlington win possession and launch a rapid counterattack. Main ran at Kpekawa and was forced wide but his shot from a fairly tight angle went across the goal and nestled into the far corner. 1-2 with 33 minutes on the clock.
Main appeared to injure himself in the act of scoring and stayed on the ground for a couple of minutes receiving treatment, and had to go off to be replaced by Nelson.
Again, Oxford City looked for a quick response to falling behind, but another Ashby corner was again just too high, this time Kpekawa just failing to make contact. Carbon was then too strong for Barrow near the corner flag and fed Stretton, who laid off to Ashby, but the midfielder’s effort from the edge of the area curled narrowly wide of the far post.
Coyle attempted a repeat of his earlier effort but this time his bouncing 30 yarder forced Jameson into an excellent diving save at the expense of a corner. The Hoops forced two consecutive corners, but the referee awarded a free-kick to Darlo for a block on Lees which prevented him from making a challenge to stop Jones making a header.
The last action of the first half saw Nelson run at the Oxford City defence but when the ball reached Maskell his shot was blocked and rolled to the keeper.
After an entertaining opening 45 minutes of football, Darlington were deservedly in the lead, having clinically taken the two good chances they had created, and it could have been worse for the home side had the errors from McKenzie-Lyle been punished.
As a response to their first half display, The Hoops made two changes at the start of the second period with talisman Zac McEachran entering the fray, and handing a debut to winger Elliott-Wheeler, with Coyle moving to left-back.
However, it was the visitors who started the half strongly. A free kick into the Oxford City was unconvincingly defended but the final effort was put a few yards wide. Carbon had to make a vital interception from a cross from Rivers, then after a cross by Griffiths, it looked like Nelson had been pushed to the ground by Jones, but again the referee allowed play to continue and ignored the penalty appeals.
In the 49th minute a good move released Hatfield but his strike from 12 yards was superbly pushed over the bar by McKenzie-Lyle. The pressure from Darlington was relentless and after another cross was partially cleared, a 20 yarder from Griffiths went a couple of feet wide.
A raised flag from the linesman for offside then denied Maskell, but it looked a tight decision from where I sat. The home side’s defensive uncertainties were underlined when despite several shouts of “time”, Kpekawa needlessly headed a ball out for a throw-in with no Darlington player anywhere near him.
Hatfield nearly got onto the end of pass into the Oxford City area, but McEachran was back defending and shepherded the ball back to his keeper.
The Hoops finally showed some attacking intent with a move involving Ashby, Parker, Elliott-Wheeler and Ashby again to win a corner, but Jameson made an impressive claim when the ball was played into the 6 yard box.
Darlington though were soon back on the attack, and when Hatfield did well to prevent a free-kick going of for a goal-kick, McKenzie-Lyle fumbled the high ball under pressure, but City were able to scramble the ball clear.
McEachran went on a mazy run, but no card was shown when he was chopped down. Parker got to the subsequent free kick from Ashby ahead of Jameson but headed wide, although the linesman flagged for offside.
Darlington’s first yellow card arrived when Flint cynically fouled Stretton after the City man ran past him near the half-way line. The free kick was played into the Darlington area but Ashby, Parker and Burley were all crowded out as they tried to get their shots away.
On the hour mark, Oxford City’s Carbon entered the referee’s notebook after pushing Nelson into the fencing on the side of the pitch as the ball went out of play.
Darlington were still looking the side most likely to score the next goal, but after Nelson sent Hatfield into space on the right, the ball into the danger zone was played behind Maskell and the chance was gone.
McEachran was starting to get increasingly involved for The Hoops. First, a give and go with Ashby ended with him being crowded out but when possession was reworked, his shot was straight at keeper Jameson. Carbon then made a strong run and passed to McEachran inside the Quakers’ area, but after taking a touch and then shooting on the turn, the effort was again at Jameson, who again made a regulation save.
Reece Fleet came on to make his first appearance of the season after injury, and the home side immediately looked a much more dangerous side going forward with their Holy Trinity of Ashby- Fleet-McEachran on the field. The three combined to release Elliott-Wheeler on the right, but his cross was blazed across the six-yard line without anyone being able to get onto the end of it.
The Hoops traditional passing games was now starting to show, but McKenzie-Lyle briefly stopped the momentum with another poor clearance going straight out of play.
Fleet then sent a raking cross-field ball to Elliott-Wheeler, whose lay back gave Burley the opportunity to go for goal from long range, but a Darlington defender on the stretch put the ball out for a corner. Stretton’s ball into the six-yard box reached Jalen Jones, who volleyed into the roof of the net from close range. 2-2 after 77 minutes.
The home side looked to strike again, but after Ashby and Stretton exchanged passes, Ashby’s effort on the side from just inside the area was again straight at the well positioned Darlo keeper.
The match was then held up as Maskell needed treatment for cramp, which forced him to leave the field and be replaced.
The closing five minutes were wild as both sides went for the winner. For the visitors, Nelson had a shot blocked and Sankeld sent the rebound at the keeper. Sankeld was then played in down the left but his shot from a tight angle hit the legs of McKenzie-Lyle. Flint’s run into the penalty box was ended by a superb sliding tackle by Kpekawa.
Coyle then gave away possession enabling Flint to chip from distance, but the ball stuck the bar and when Nelson retrieved the loose-ball, McKenzie-Lyle made an important save diving low to his right to push the effort away and dive onto the loose ball.
When City again gave possession away, another good break from Darlington freed Nelson on the right, but from a good position he chipped rather tamely at McKenzie-Lyle.
With 7 minutes of added time to be played, it was now Oxford City’s turn to surge forward. Ashby made a good run to get to the by-line and his pull-back found McEachran, but his back-heel intended for Stretton wasn’t strong enough and a defender got a toe to the ball to clear. Stretton then burst into the Darlo penalty area but after a last-ditch tackle, Fleet’s smart chip from the edge of the area over the crowd of players in front of the goal struck the bar and bounced to safety.
A long ball from Siddik was latched onto by Andrews, but just when the substitute was about to pull the trigger, Lees poked the ball away from him. In the 5th minute of added time, McEachran found Coyle but his attempt from just inside the area again crashed back off the post !
In a breathless finale, Andrews and Ashby were both crowded out by the hard-pressed Darlington defence, but the scores remained level at the final whistle. Perhaps the football gods couldn’t decide if any side should be the winners, but this was a fabulously entertaining game for which both sides deserved much credit for the way they played.
Oxford City : McKenzie-Lyle – Burley, Jones, Kpekawa ( Siddik ), Roddy ( McEachran ) – Carbon ( Fleet ), Ashby, Coyle, Potter ( Elliott-Wheeler ) – Parker ( Andrews ), Stretton
Darlington FC : Jameson – Griffiths, Lees, Barrow, Hedley – Hatfield, Flint, Forbes, Rivers ( Cornish ) – Maskell ( Sankeld ), Main ( Nelson )
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