New Darlington manager David Booth watched from the sides as his new charges were relegated to the Fourth Division after a dismal 1-0 defeat by Fulham at Feethams this afternoon.
The former Grimsby boss was appointed only hours before this fixture but opted to allow player-coach Paul Ward take charge and will no longer by in any doubt about the size of the task that he has taken on. Booth, who guided the Mariners from the Fourth Division to the Second Division before retiring from management in 1985, formally starts his new job on Monday morning.
There were some positive elements of Darlington’s performances for their long-suffering supporters as the strugglers more than matched Fulham’s play for much of a low-key, end-of-season encounter but paid the penalty for one defensive mistake. The Darlo defence had done well to contain highly-rated Fulham forward Dean Coney for most of the match, but he found space in the 69th minute after cutting inside and took full advantage – picking Leo Donnellan, who lifted a lovely finish high into the roof of the net.
The Quakers huffed and puffed throughout but lacked the quality to stretch Fulham’s well-drilled defence. David Currie offered some cute touches up front, whilst Mark Hine was industrious in the engine room, but Booth will need to dig deep into his contacts book to reshape a sorry squad over the close season if Darlington are to bounce back at the first attempt.
DARLINGTON: J. Roberts; Hinchley, Robinson, Hine, Lloyd, Tupling, A. Roberts, Ward, Macdonald (McClaren 75), Currie, Bell.
FULHAM: Vaughan; Oakes, Hicks (Davies 70), Hopkins, Carr, Parker, Scott, Donnellan, Lewington, Barnett, Coney.
GOAL: Donnellan (69).
ATTENDANCE: 1,267.
