The Stan travelled to bottom of the league Darlington with the Stan Army hoping, especially as Railway had a new keeper, to see more goals than trains. But in the end a dreary afternoon witnessed a dreary match. There were 3 Stan changes including Salim replacing Robinson and the return of Deagle and Ray in defence. There was a debut from the bench for new winger Jake Turnbull who has just received international clearance after 4 years in the US.

The 1^st minute saw Tait run in on goal but Darlo keeper Griffiths got the ball but Ray dealt with the resulting counter attack. In 6 minutes, Holland was booked after just being brought down himself by an almost identical tackle. The referee, who had responded to the home bench’s calls for a booking, lost control of the game from this point and he then failed to take action in most cases against a series of bad tackles by the home team.

Smith then made a catch and in 10 minutes a Darlo cross hit the top of the net. The home team were slightly better until now as they were finding their man when attempting to pass. A minute later though saw a great tackle and run by Laidler but his cross was slightly too far for Salim whose overall work rate in the match was poor.

After 14 minutes there was a lovely through ball by Tait but the keeper got to it before Holland. Josh then won the ball and forced a corner which saw Ray’s kick blocked followed by Tait’s header being cleared. Another Stan corner was missed by everyone including the jumping keeper. Salim was brought down but there was no booking as the Stan began to get control of the game.

In 20 minutes Ray headed a corner ball just wide and, after another Stan attack, a speculative Jones long shot went just over. Soon after Tait was in on the keeper with the ball hitting off him and up in the air which he then caught. Jones then battled and won the ball which led to a good shot by Tait which was caught by Griffiths.

In 30 minutes, a free kick just outside the box was put just over by Tait. The Stan were looking comfortable now without really threatening and there had been no attempts on the Stan goal for a while. Trodd in particular was looking comfortable at the back for the Stan. Salim forced another corner which was cleared. Darlo got a corner which was eventually cleared by Tait to Salim who countered and only had the keeper to beat but put the ball well wide. This was the best effort of the match and should have put the Stan well on the way to a comfortable half time lead.

In 39 minutes, a Darlo attack was cleared followed by Trodd winning the ball and starting a Stan attack that was blocked. Salim broke through and was brought down for a free kick which led to 2 corners which saw Darlo defend well. The home side were also doing loads of fouling but the ref failed to take action. In 44 minutes, a great cross ball from Tait saw Holland’s light shot caught by Griffiths.

The half finished with a Stan corner which the keeper cleared twice. The Stan had been the better footballing team but their finishing had let them down.

The 2^nd half started more quietly with Robinson replacing Tait in 50 minutes. A Darlo attack was then cleared with the Stan countering which saw Robinson, who had broke through, being brought down. Surprisingly this saw a home player actually booked. 2 minutes later and a Jones flick to the advancing Robinson saw him blocked by the keeper. Another Stan attack was then cleared before a Salim shot was also blocked.

Jones then shot from the edge of the box but his deflected effort was caught by Griffiths although soon after another cross by Jones led to a corner. There was then a great ball by Holland to Johnson in the box but it led to nothing. In 58 minutes Holland, who was playing great, won the ball and passed to Robinson but the keeper got to the ball 1^st.

There was another great attack by Robinson but he was blocked again followed by a corner which saw Deagle shoot straight at the keeper. A rare Darlo attack was then blocked before a poor Imray clearance attempt led to Smith comfortably clearing. A great run by Trodd in 63 minutes some him eventually blocked after rounding 3 players. Holland, who had been battling away on the right wing was then subbed much to the disappointment of the Stan Army.

His replacement, debutant Jake Turnbull, worked hard though and after a minute had won the ball back after a Stan attack was cleared and was then brought down which saw a 2^nd Darlo player booked. The resulting Jones free kick went straight to the keeper who was caught by the advancing Salim. Griffiths then went for Salim, raised his hands and had to be pushed away but only Salim was shown a card.

In 70 minutes Turnbull tried a long shot which was caught. The Stan were still searching for a goal and it eventually came in 74 minutes. Ray sent a long ball to Turnbull which resulted in a throw in. This led to a corner which was sent into the crowded box. Chapman was blocked but the ball went back out to Turnbull in the edge of the box who blasted the ball through a crowd of players and into the net.

2 minutes later and Griffiths had to catch another Stan effort in the air. The game was getting scrappy and Jones was fouled in 81 minutes but sent the resulting free kick over. The Stan kept attacking and in 84 minutes Salim missed a pass, won the ball back and under pressure shot wide. A minute later, against the run of play, a Darlo throw in into the crowded Stan box saw a home player get up and head into the net for 1-1.

The Stan still searched for the deserved winner and in 86 minutes Salim passed to Robinson in the box but under pressure his effort went across the goal. Griffiths was increasingly time wasting and twice took his gloves off to the approval of the ref. In 88 minutes, it nearly back-fired for the Stan as Smith came out to clear but his punch led to a long high shot over him by a Darlo player which luckily hit the bar. Trodd was then clattered and knocked his head which resulted in the Stan ending with 10 men.

Never the less, they continued to attack but it was going to be too little too late even with 7 minutes of injury time. Robinson forced a corner but the keeper got a hand to the ball from the corner and Turnbull’s rebound shot went wide. All but 1 Darlo player were back to defend the last Stan corner and the match ended in a draw. The Stan’s opportunity to gain an easy 3 points was derailed by poor finishing, poor referring and time wasting but at least the unbeaten league run continues and is now 7 games.

Stan: Smith; Trodd, Deagle, Ray, Imray, Johnson (Chapman 72), Holland (Y) (Turnbull 64), Tait (Robinson 50), Salim (Y), Jones, Laidler.

Subs not used: Dixon, McKenna.

Goals: Turnbull 74.

Yellow Cards: Holland, Salim.

Attendance: 50

Kev Mochrie