By Luke Duden
In association with:
ALAN McLEAN FCMA CGMA
Chartered Management Accountant
Vanarama National League North
Saturday, March 5th 2022
DARLINGTON 1-0 BLYTH SPARTANS
A controversial Jake Lawlor goal in stoppage time denied the Spartans a point.
The game was restarted twice due to a Spartans fan collapsing, leading to 20 minutes of added time.
It wasn’t a game for the neutral, with only one chance of note in the first half, as Joe Wheatley hit the post for the Quakers in the 44th minute.
Darlington would take the lead in the latter stages of the second half, as Alex Mitchell parried Will Hatfield’s effort into the path of a rabble of players.
The ball would come back off the crossbar into the path of Lawlor, who appeared to be in an offside position, but would find the back of the net with no flag raised.
The Spartans best chance of the game would come 20 minutes after the 90 was over, as JJ O’Donnell’s strike looked destined to capture a point, but drifted wide.
Darlington | Taylor, Wheatley (Hatfield 90+1), Hedley, Rivers, Lambert (Thompson 78’), dos Santos, Lawlor, O’Neill (Cassidy 90+11’), Purver, Griffiths, Wheater
Goals | Lawlor 90+12’
Blyth Spartans | Mitchell, Almond, Liddle (Watson 37’), Buddle ©, Byrne, Dale (McNall 48’), Hickey (Painter 76’), O’Donnell, McKeown, Deverdicks, Maguire (Reid 90+4)