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| MATCH REPORTS |
Report courtesy Jonathan Wilsher - Evening Post
Two late goals denied Swansea their first away win of the season at Feethams last night.
There seemed to be only one winner of the game at half-time after Swansea completely outplayed their hosts to lead confidently, but they were hit by two gaols from Darlington striker Glenn Naylor in the last five minutes.
Even when Swansea led 2-1 in the second half, they still seemed to be on course for victory.
Jan Molby's side took command right from the start. Jonathan Coates had a fourth-minute header from a David O'Gorman cross saved by David Preece, and he was also denied by a flying save from a left-foot shot. With Darlington unable to cope, Swansea took the lead after 13 minutes when a right-wing cross by Lee Jenkins was completely missed by the Darlington defence, allowing Tony Bird to volley in from 10 yards.
Swansea continued to cause constant problems, and it was no surprise that they went two up after 35 minutes. Coates picked up the ball in midfield and split the home defence with a perfectly weighted pass for O'Gorman to race through and beat Preece with a low shot.
Swansea could easily have been three ahead before half-time. Kwame Ampadu and Bird both had shots blocked, then an effort from Jenkins took a wicked deflection and landed on top of the net.
There was no indication at that point of the second-half drama to follow because Swansea appeared to be in total command. Darlington were handed a lifeline after 51 minutes. Referee Bill Burnes decided that Kristian O'Leary had fouled Darlington substitute Paul Robinson in the area, and Darren Roberts scored from the spot.
Swansea could have finished off the revival four minutes later, when Jason Price struck the post after Preece dropped a corner at his feet. Despite that miss, Swansea still appeared to be in command with Roger Freestone having little to do until an amazing climax to the game.
With just three minutes left, Michael Oliver broke free down the right and crossed for Roberts to have a close-range shot well blocked by the keeper, but O'Leary's clearance of the loose ball unluckily rebounded off the knee of the advancing Naylor into the roof of the net.
Two minutes into stoppage time, the Swansea defence completely missed a right-wing corner, which allowed Robinson to nod the ball down for Naylor to divert past the stranded Freestone.
Nobody from either side could quite believe the final result - least of all Molby and his players who looked certain favourites to win after going into the interval with a 2-0 lead.
| Result | DARLINGTON (0) 3 | SWANSEA (2) 2 |
| Scorers | Roberts 51 (pen), Naylor 87, 92 | Bird 13, O'Gorman 35 |
| Teams | Preece, Gray (Giumarra 75), Barnard, Brydon, Turnbull (Shute 40), Hope, Oliver, Atkinson (Robinson 45), Roberts, Naylor, Brumwell | Freestone, Price, Hills, Walker, O' Leary, Coates, Appleby, O'Gorman, Bird, Ampadu, Jenkins. |
| Subs Not Used: | - | Chapple, Jones G, Harris. |
| Booked: | Gray | Hills |
| Att: | 2,150 | Ref: W. Burnes (Scarborough). |
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