Darlington lose in poor display against Orient
By Matt Hawkins
August 13 2005
Darlo finish their first three matches of the season with four points after losing 1-0 to Leyton Orient in a poor performance. The Quakers will surely be disappointed that they took no points against an average Orient side.
By Matt Hawkins
August 13 2005
Darlo finish their first three matches of the season with four points after losing 1-0 to Leyton Orient in a poor performance. The Quakers will surely be disappointed that they took no points against an average Orient side.
This was set to be the biggest match of the season so far - 1st in the table facing 2nd (only after two matches though). You could be forgiven for thinking today's match was more of a relegation battle, as neither side looked anything special. Even so, Orient were the best side we have faced so far this season, but with the two previous opponents being a dismal Rushden side and a down-sized Stockport squad, that's not saying much.
We got off to a slow start today, with Orient applying some early pressure. The only goal of the match came when Matthew Lockwood sent Sam Russell the wrong way with a penalty on 41 minutes, which resulted from Shelton Martis making a badly timed challenge on Shane Tudor on the edge of the area.
Darlo had very few clear-cut chances in the first half. Possibly our best chance of the half came when Ryan Valentine broke away down the left on a counter-attack, but aimed a tame finish straight at the Orient keeper, Glynn Garner. Neil Wainwright also created a chance for himself when he claimed the ball outside the area, skinned an opponent, but his strike was blocked by an Orient defender and the ball went out for a corner.
The second half was much more in Darlington's favour. Neil Wainwright was in good form today, beating defenders down the right-hand side, which he hasn't really managed for a while. Once again, our defence was poor when it came to passing the ball. Matt Clarke overhit two sideways passes which ended up going out for unnecessary throw-ins, and the defence generally looked reluctant to play the ball forward.
The best chance of the match fell to Akpo Sodje, when he found himself with an open goal, 6 yards out. Somehow he managed not to put the ball in the net and ended up only winning a corner. The ball appeared to be at an awkward height for him, but even so, he could have just move forward into the ball and it would still have gone in.
Neil Wainwright also had a good opportunity in the second half, when he won the ball on the edge of the area, got through on goal, but the ball fell to his left foot and he skyed it from 12 yards out.
Orient almost had a couple more goals near the end, both from crosses. Sam Russell twice went for the ball about a metre to the side of his goal and both times managed to miss it. Amazingly, both of the free headers on goal - that Orient had as a result - managed to cannon off a conveniently placed defender. Sam was very lucky with both of those.
At the end of the day, a 1-0 defeat was a big disappointment after a frustrating 2nd half where we just couldn't finish our chances.
DFC Online's match ratings:
Sam Russell - 5/10
Shelton Martis - 5/10
Matt Clarke - 5/10
Joey Hutchinson - 6/10
Ryan Valentine - 6/10
NEIL WAINWRIGHT - 7/10 (Man of the Match)
Matty Appleby - 6/10
Jonjo Dickman - 5/10
Carlos Logan - 7/10
Clyde Wijnhard - 5/10
Simon Johnson - 5/10
Subs:
Akpo Sodje - 6/10
Adrian Webster - 5/10
Guy Ndumbu-Nsungu - 5/10
We got off to a slow start today, with Orient applying some early pressure. The only goal of the match came when Matthew Lockwood sent Sam Russell the wrong way with a penalty on 41 minutes, which resulted from Shelton Martis making a badly timed challenge on Shane Tudor on the edge of the area.
Darlo had very few clear-cut chances in the first half. Possibly our best chance of the half came when Ryan Valentine broke away down the left on a counter-attack, but aimed a tame finish straight at the Orient keeper, Glynn Garner. Neil Wainwright also created a chance for himself when he claimed the ball outside the area, skinned an opponent, but his strike was blocked by an Orient defender and the ball went out for a corner.
The second half was much more in Darlington's favour. Neil Wainwright was in good form today, beating defenders down the right-hand side, which he hasn't really managed for a while. Once again, our defence was poor when it came to passing the ball. Matt Clarke overhit two sideways passes which ended up going out for unnecessary throw-ins, and the defence generally looked reluctant to play the ball forward.
The best chance of the match fell to Akpo Sodje, when he found himself with an open goal, 6 yards out. Somehow he managed not to put the ball in the net and ended up only winning a corner. The ball appeared to be at an awkward height for him, but even so, he could have just move forward into the ball and it would still have gone in.
Neil Wainwright also had a good opportunity in the second half, when he won the ball on the edge of the area, got through on goal, but the ball fell to his left foot and he skyed it from 12 yards out.
Orient almost had a couple more goals near the end, both from crosses. Sam Russell twice went for the ball about a metre to the side of his goal and both times managed to miss it. Amazingly, both of the free headers on goal - that Orient had as a result - managed to cannon off a conveniently placed defender. Sam was very lucky with both of those.
At the end of the day, a 1-0 defeat was a big disappointment after a frustrating 2nd half where we just couldn't finish our chances.
DFC Online's match ratings:
Sam Russell - 5/10
Shelton Martis - 5/10
Matt Clarke - 5/10
Joey Hutchinson - 6/10
Ryan Valentine - 6/10
NEIL WAINWRIGHT - 7/10 (Man of the Match)
Matty Appleby - 6/10
Jonjo Dickman - 5/10
Carlos Logan - 7/10
Clyde Wijnhard - 5/10
Simon Johnson - 5/10
Subs:
Akpo Sodje - 6/10
Adrian Webster - 5/10
Guy Ndumbu-Nsungu - 5/10
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