All quiet on the Weston front - Part two

BROOKS MILESON LEAGUE CUP FIRST ROUND
DARLINGTON RA 1 JARROW ROOFING 2
By Ricky Butler at Brinkburn Road

IN WHAT is fast becoming the weekly Infoserve night out, I once again found myself at Brinkburn Road to watch Darlington RA face Jarrow Roofing in the Northern League Brooks Mileson League Cup. 

Accompanied once again by work colleagues, Eddie, Damo, Shane and, adding some much needed glamour; Nicky, this week we were joined by Gauchy and Nicky's two children; meaning that between us we made up more than half of the crowd!

With most of us there to watch another Infoserve legend, Mikey Weston, you can imagine the disappointment when we discovered he was only starting on the bench. In fact most of the team which had performed so well against Hartlepool last week were 'rested,' including young striker Harvey Saunders.

Jarrow have come a long way in a short space of time, largely due to the financial input of manager Richie McLoughlin. Now plying their trade in Division One, the visitors from Tyneside started this tie as clear favorites, perhaps explaining the RA team selection.

The first half went very much with the form book. Jarrow were the better team and fully deserved their 2-0 half time lead. The first goal was a great strike from Adam Rundle, cutting in from the left before drilling an unstoppable shot into the bottom corner of the net.

The general view from around us however, was that Mikey would have 'smashed him' before he had the chance to score. And judging by his foul mood at work all day, I'd say that may well have been the case!!

The second goal was a gift by RA goalkeeper Rob Gustard. At first deciding to come for a long ball, the stopper then made the fatal mistake of changing his mind, allowing John Campbell to beat him and roll the ball into the empty net.

To try and liven up a rather drab first half Shane was tempted to do a streak and even stripped down to his boxer shorts before thinking better of it. Being a chilly night he decided it would probably do him little favours, even though most of Darlington has already seen all he has to offer!!!

Late out for the second half, the RA certainly upped their game after the restart. The introduction of Saunders, who had originally been named in the starting line up but then withdrawn due to an 'injury,' certainly looked fit and gave the hosts some much needed impetus.

But the longer the half wore on the more we were resigning ourselves to the fact that this week we would not be seeing Mikey miss headers or score own goals. When the third and final substitution was made with fifteen minutes left we knew our night was ruined before it had really begun.

In the end the RA did pull a goal back, a fine header from substitute Jordan Hanratty, but it was too little too late. So a night that had promised so much ended in disappointment, both for the RA and the Infoserve crew who sloped off to the bar to drawn their sorrows.

In the overall scheme of things defeat in a competition they had little chance of winning  may not be the end of the world for RA manager Warren Moncur. But then again he does not have to sit next to Mikey at work tomorrow. The words bear and sore head spring to mind.

Still there is another match on Saturday as the RA celebrate 10 years since their first ever Northern League home match with the visit of Hebburn Town. With both Mikey and young Harvey expected to be in the starting line up, another Infoserve day out may well be on the agenda.