Tom Murphy reports from Blackwell Meadows…
Marine suffered a 3-1 defeat on the road in Darlington in their last of their four straight away games.
Two penalties from Cedric Main and a header from Eliott Forbes cancelled out Chris Doyle’s first half equaliser.
It was a lively start to the game with both teams having chances in the opening minutes.
Marine’s first came when Kallan Murphy whipped a dangerous ball into the box that was just too close to the hands of Peter Jameson who was able to collect the ball with ease.
The chances began to flood in for Marine with Enock Lusiama coming close on two occasions with two of his efforts on goal.
Darlington were a constant threat going forward, especially on the break and their threat paid off when Jarrett Rivers was brought down in the box and a penalty was awarded.
Main stepped up and coolly placed the ball past debutant Max Metcalfe in the Marine net.
The penalty seemed to put a lid on the opportunities Marine were having and they struggled to create anything in response to the opening goal.
Against the run of play, Marine’s equaliser came from a free kick delivered into the mix from Leigh Whelan.
A dangerous ball into the box found the head of Lusiama whose header was parried to the head of Doyle who was quickest to react from Jameson’s initial stop.
After levelling it up at the death in the opening 45 minutes, it was the home side who reacted best after the short break and instantly began to cause problems for the Mariners.
Their second came from a free kick in the 60th minute as Forbes jumped highest to nod home his side’s second of the afternoon.
The Quakers continued to enjoy large spells of the ball as they caused several issues for Metcalfe on his first start.
After a clinical ball forward from Scott Barrow which ripped open the Marine defence, Main was able to draw the foul in the box from Josh Wardle who bundled the forward over.
Main added to his tally and extended Darlington’s lead with just 10 minutes to play.
With the two goal deficit Darlington were able to see the game out whilst offering Marine very little for the remainder of the game.
The Mariners now turn to a massive fixture on Tuesday evening where they face Rushall Olympic at the MTA.
Marine: Max Metcalfe, James Brown, Josh Wardle (James Butler 81’), Chris Doyle, Adam Thomas (Matty Waters 69’), Leigh Whelan, Harvey Gregson (Bobby Grant 69’), Andy Scarisbrick (Owen Robinson 84’), Jack Hazlehurst, Enock Lusiama, Kallan Murphy (Finlay Sinclair Smith 53’).
Attendance: 1,440