History repeats itself in Valley Parade stalemate

A goalless draw with Darlington should come as no real surprise. This was the third time in a row that Valley Parade clashes between the two teams have ended in stalemate.

But it was not the worst result in the world against another side who are up there in the promotion fight.

Stuart McCall’s biggest concern will be the injuries City picked up, with Omar Daley damaging medial ligaments in his knee and Rhys Evans pulling his thigh.

The Jamaican is likely to be sidelined for a chunk of the run-in and Evans will definitely miss the next couple of games.

Darlington were just glad to see a pitch again, having not kicked a ball since last month.

After an impressive run of four wins in five lifted them to fourth, the Quakers had been left twiddling their thumbs through three successive postponements.

Keeper Dean Gerken, on loan from Colchester, quickly cleared the cobwebs with a hurried clearance under pressure from Michael Boulding and a header away from the edge of his box.

After the excitement of Saturday, it was another fast-paced start from City, although the only shot in the opening stages came from Darlington’s Pawel Abbott, who fired over the bar.

Matt Clarke produced two crunching blocks to snuff out another Darlo threat as the Valley Parade crowd kept up a noisy back-drop to the action.

They almost had something to cheer on 17 minutes as Steve Jones attacked from halfway and threaded a pass for Boulding to chase. Defenders Alan White and Carl Tremarco got in each other’s way, allowing the striker through into the box.

He looked odds on to score but drove low and straight at Gerken, who blocked it with his legs and then got up immediately to punch the rebound out of danger.

But City suffered a big blow midway through the half when Daley stayed down after a hefty tackle with Neil Austin. The Jamaican was clearly in some discomfort and after brief treatment was taken off on a stretcher.

Joe Colbeck was the obvious replacement with Jones switching flanks to the left.

Clarke spoiled his game with a poor clearance that gifted Ricky Ravenhill possession 30 yards out. His shot was deflected off course and Rhys Evans slid to prevent the corner – and worryingly, got up limping.

With no substitute keeper on the bench – though Dean Windass was in the press box – City could not afford anything to happen to Evans. There was a universal sigh of relief that he was able to continue after brief treatment, although he looked hampered by his thigh.

There had been few chances at either end but City went closest to breaking the deadlock just after the half hour. Boulding almost got Luke O’Brien in but as the ball came out to Jones, his drive fell perfectly for Peter Thorne, whose snap-shot cannoned back off the Darlington bar with Gerken beaten.

The busy Dean Furman stumbled near goal as he looked to wriggle his way through and Colbeck had a cross whacked clear as City tried to up the ante ahead of half-time.

Boulding’s clever runs were pulling the Darlo defence about and Nicky Law was starting to drive forward ominously. City won back-to-back corners but Boulding’s flick across goal went unclaimed by a team-mate.

But Darlington suddenly cut City open with a swift counter-attack led by Abbott and Jason Kennedy. Danny Carlton pulled to the right and whipped in a dangerous cross, which Colbeck dealt with superbly as he back-tracked to nod away from his own six-yard box.

Jones lifted the tempo again right on the interval to force a third City corner.

Referee Tony Bates had a stiff word with Clarke and White after a spot of shoving before the City centre half rose to meet the kick but failed to direct his header.

The teams had cancelled each other out for the most part. Stuart McCall’s side had just about edged it but the bobbly pitch was not aiding their usual passing game.

City began the second half on the front foot again with O’Brien and Colbeck both drilling in crosses to keep Gerken on his toes. Boulding then slipped the wrong side of marker Steve Foster but drove straight at White.

Referee Bates produced his first yellow card of the night seven minutes into the half when White tripped Boulding once too often.

Zesh Rehman, preferred to Paul Arnison at right back, showed his mettle to stay with Abbott as the big targetman fought to get off a shot.

But the Pakistan international then coughed up possession on halfway and was grateful for a text-book intervention from Clarke on the edge of the penalty area as Darlington looked to break.

City hit back as Law reeled off the pass of the match to spray the ball out to Colbeck, who cut in from the right flank before firing over the angle.

But there was generally not a lot of room to work in with Darlington quick to close down anything fancy.

City still carried the bigger threat, with Colbeck becoming more prominent and showing the appetite to break down the black and white wall of resistance.

Darlington boss Dave Penney threw on Liam Hatch as an extra attacker after 67 minutes to prove they were not content to sit on a point. As if to prove that, it needed a great tackle from Rehman to prevent Carlton firing the visitors in front as he burst away.

But they had still failed to test Evans with a direct shot on target – a record that Abbott was never going to alter with a wild thrash high into the Kop.

McCall made his first switch with 17 minutes to go as Lee Bullock replaced Jones. He took up a central role alongside Furman, with Law moving to the left.

And 12 minutes from time, he called for Barry Conlon to add a bit of muscle up front as Thorne went off.

Conlon, who had two spells as a Darlington player, was greeted with a roar from the fans.

But it was the away side who were pressing again and Evans was finally called into action after 80 minutes, responding with a tip-over to deny Abbott’s rasping shot.

And Darlington went close again through Hatch, whose drifting effort just beat the far post with Evans looking on.