A point for Darlo who let lead slip
ALTRINCHAM DARLINGTON
QUAKERS deserved a point against third-in-the-table Altrincham, but they almost won the game in the last minute.
With two loan signings from Barnsley, defender Will Smith and midfielder Romal Palmer in their team, they played some fast-flowing football, but they couldn’t hold on to a 3-1 lead.
They went in front on eight minutes when Tom Elliott’s through ball for Harvey Saunders was partly intercepted, but he regained possession, ran into the box and beat Tony Thompson with a left-foot shot.
But Altrincham, the division’s top scorers, levelled within two minutes, when Josh Hancock glanced a right wing cross into the top corner.
Palmer then missed a great chance to restore the lead when he pounced on a poor back pass, but with just the keeper to beat, dragged his shot wide of the far post.
But Quakers went 2-1 up on 26 minutes when Elliott found on-loan Sunderland striker Andrew Nelson on the right, and he drove the ball perfectly into the six-yard box for Harvey Saunders to touch home.
And it was looking good for Quakers on 44 minutes when Palmer found Nelson on the edge of the box, and the striker turned and set up Jordan Nicholson, who drove a left foot shot into the top corner.
But within a minute, Altrincham pulled one back when Max Harrop nipped in to head a left wing cross past Darlington keeper Jonny Maddison.
The game switched from end to end in the second half, and the home side levelled on 64 minutes when Ashley Hemmings forced home a right wing cross.
The game could have gone either way after that. In the last minute, Saunders beat Thompson to a long ball outside the area, but his header went inches wide of the post, and in stoppage time, Maddison made a terrific save from Harrap, and Hemmings was flagged offside when he headed the loose ball into the net. DARLINGTON: Maddison, Trotman (sub Wollerton 63), Kokolo (sub O’hanlon 63), Smith, Burn, Galbraith, Elliott, Palmer, Saunders, Nelson, Nicholson (sub Thompson 63) Subs: Hall, Henshall.