Grimsby Town 1-2 Darlington

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Posted at 04:58 PM GMT, Sunday, 2nd November 2008

Darlington moved to the top of the table as Grimsby Town were left searching for their first win of the season. Two early goals put Quakers into the driving seat. The home side rallied after the break and made a fight of the proceedings but Darlington were not to be denied. The game however might not have taken place on another day.

During the build up to the match one of the panels from the roof of a stand at Blundell Park blew off and hit a spectator. He did not appear to be badly hurt and thankfully the game was given the go ahead by safety officials. In the end Grimsby themselves were blown away by Darlington's start to the game.

A goal from Billy Clarke and Ricky Ravenhill inside of the first quarter of an hour effectively put this game beyond the reach of the home side. Despite this the Mariners were the first to threaten. Tom Newey, once on loan at Darlington, crossed for Jamie Clarke to head over the bar. However with just seven minutes played Quakers took the lead. Clarke found Ravenhill who picked out Rob Purdie. His miss hit shot appeared to be going wide but Clarke flicked the home with an excellent touch for his ninth goal of the campaign.

A Franz Burgmeier free kick was headed over the bar by Alan White before Darlington doubled their advantage on fifteen minutes. Ravenhill, a former Grimsby Town player, scored an outstanding goal with a dipping volley from the corner of the penalty area as the home side failed to clear a Burgmeier corner kick. It was an excellent start to the game and whilst attacks became somewhat limited from Darlington they were always in control during the first half.

With just over half an hour played Matthew Haywood made way for Robert Atkinson as the home side tried to change the flow of the game. Quakers though kept Grimsby out until the half time interval, much to the frustration of the Mariners' fans. The second half however was a different story as Grimsby pulled their socks up and came out fighting, no doubt prompted by a harsh exchange of words by manager Mike Newell.

Simon Brown did well to tip away a Nick Hegarty cross and then had to cope with a series of corners. Grimsby kept the pressure on for the first time in the game and started to test Darlington. With just over an hour played the home side could have scored. Peter Till cut inside from the left and fired over the bar. It looked like Darlington might have done enough to keep things as they were at the break but with twenty-minutes left Jean-Paul Kalala scored for Grimsby.

His shot, low from the edge of the area, made for an interesting finish to a match which appeared over at half time. Darlington introduced Richie Foran for Clarke however the visitors were still under the cosh towards the end of the game. Foran however nearly lent a hand in helping Darlington get a third goal. His header at the far post from a Purdie cross gave Gregg Blundell a chance but the ball went the wrong side of the post.

In the end it made little difference but Quakers still needed Brown to make saves as they came under heavy pressure. Darlington continued their excellent sequence of results at Blundell Park and the win also moved them to the top of League Two. As for Grimsby, only points deductions for other sides denies them a place at the bottom. The Mariners need to show a massive improvement to avoid a lengthy scrap at the bottom of the division.

Grimsby Town: Barnes, Stockdale, Bennett, Heywood (Atkinson 34), Newey, Till, Clarke (Bore 74), Kalala, Trotter, Hegarty, North. Subs Not Used: Montgomery, Hunt, Jarman.

Darlington: Brown, Austin, Foster, White, Valentine, Purdie, Kennedy (Hulbert 79), Ravenhill, Burgmeier (Miller 89), Clarke (Foran 73), Blundell. Subs Not Used: Kazimierczak, Proudlock.

Grimsby Town bookings: North, Kalala.

Darlington bookings: Clarke, White, Ravenhill.

Goals: Clarke 7th min (1-0), Ravenhill 15th min (2-0), Kalala 71st min (2-1).

Att: 3,509