Eastbourne Borough

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Marc Bridge-Wilkinson

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Darlington 6-1 Eastbourne Borough

Darlington thumped Eastbourne Borough 6-1 at the Northern Echo Arena on Saturday to deny the Blue Square Bet Premier league's bottom club a chance of moving off the foot of the table.

A hat-trick from Marc Bridge-Wilkinson as well as goals from Liam Hatch and John Campbell put the match beyond doubt in the first half with Aman Verma getting in on the act after the break. Matt Smart's late strike was little consolation for a side without a point in 11 fixtures.

They remain on 22 points, one point off Histon, who lost 1-0 to Hayes & Yeading while Darlington in 13th, moved on to 39 points.

The opening exchanges gave little indication of the goal fest that began when Bridge-Wilkinson opened the scoring after 19 minutes. His free-kick from a fairly innocuous position to the left of goal somehow managed to bypass attackers and defenders alike before deceiving Eastbourne keeper Tommy Forecast on its way into the back of the net.

But the contest swung firmly in the home side's favour after two penalties, that Bridge-Wilkinson converted, to complete a first half hat-trick in just over 30 minutes.

Matt Crabb upended Bridge-Wilkinson with 29 minutes gone as he attempted to latch onto a superb pass from Campbell. The midfielder, who was through on goal, he dusted himself off before smashing the ball past Forecast, low to his left.

The second goal clearly rattled the visitors, with Matt Smart's lunging tackle on Verma, a mere four minutes later, giving Bridge-Wilkinson a second spot-kick, and he again made no mistake from the spot.

Then before Boro could regain any sort of composure, Darlington had their fourth. An unmarked Hatch headed home a delightful cross from the right-hand side from Arnison with just 34 minutes played.

Campbell's 37th-minute goal was the best of the lot though as he smashed home following some quick thinking from Hatch. He who beat his man with a cheeky chip before laying off to Campbell for his first goal in a Quakers shirt.

It looked as it Darlington would continue to run rampage over their shell-shocked opponents in the second period but it took 13 minutes after the restart for Verma to get in on the act. Bridge-Wilkinson turned provider this time as he presented Verma with the ball on the edge of the box and he rifled his shot home past the hapless Forecast.

Darlo eased off as the match wore on although Bridge-Wilkinson hit the bar with a free-kick before coming close with another good effort, only to see Forecast deny him, at last. And with time running out and both sides seemingly content to run down the clock, Jenkins popped up with a good headed goal from a George Purcell corner.

Darlington bookings: None

Eastbourne Borough bookings: Johnson

Att: 1660

Ref: Paul Hodskinson