Archived News from April 2004
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STAGSNET`S STATISTICAL PREVIEW
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The Stags, who now has not lost anyone of their last five league outings and recorded a very important home win against Oxford on Tuesday, now in 5th position not for away from the third auto promo place, will now face Darlington away on Easter Saturday. The Quakers are a side that have often faced the Stags in league encounters and did so in all the seasons the Stags played in the old division 3 (N) and most seasons the Stags have played in the old fourth and the current third division as the Quakers since 1958-59 only have been out of the basement division for five seasons – four of them in the old third with the Stags facing Darlo in two of them – and one in the Conf – 1989-90 – and in 1990-91 the Quakers went straight through the old fourth only to immediately drop back to the basement.
And the Quakers had to wait nearly fifty years for their first-ever victory at Field Mill – and that was a 3-2 on March 6, 1982 in one of – in my opinion - worst seasons following the Stags. And before that, Darlington had only managed five draws in Stagsland – all score-draws – in 24 outings with the Stags scoring twice or more on all occasions bar two – when a solitary Stags goal clinched it. And the biggest Quakers away victory was a 3-0 very late in the 1993-94 season when Darlington badly needed the points to avoid the league's wooden spoon – and made it at the expense of Northampton, who eventually stayed up due to then Conf Champs Kidderminster incredibly not being eligible to be promoted due to ground regulations – a very strange decision due to the fact that the Harriers enjoyed their best-ever FA Cup run. And the biggest defeat at Darlington was a 1-5 as recently as on February 6, 1999, when Harper netted the consolation goal for the Stags. . On the other hand, Darlington have been hit 6-0 on two occasions – on December 12, 1953 (scorers Murray 2 – came from the Quakers – talk about putting some over the old club - , Reeve, Darwin 2, Daley) and November 10, 1962, scorers Wagstaff 2, Chapman R, Weir, Hollett, Morris pen – the latter being the last of three consecutive Stags wins to a score of 14-0! The other victims were Chesterfield on October 22 and Barrow to a 5-0 stuffing four days later. The last home game before this season was won 4-2 on February 16, 2002 thanks to two goals from David Kelly, a Corden penalty and a Greenacre strike. Prior to that game, the writer of these lines made the first-ever Stagsnet statistical preview. Greenacre's strike was in fact the 100th league goal Darlington had conceded at Field Mill. No wonder, then, that the teams have yet to play a goal-less league game in Stagsland, compared to four at a place the writer travelled through by train on both occasion visiting Mansfield – and other places as well – the last two years. And the very last away game at Feethams, Darlington's old ground, was won by a very late Allen Tankard free-kick on October 13, 2001. And away, the Stags have won about every fourth game in Quakers country, the biggest as early as on September 16, 1933, when two goals from Munning, one each from Rayner and goal ace Johnson secured the Stags' first division 3 (N) win that season thanks to a 4-1 hammering. The Stags also won their first-ever away game at Feethams – and that proved to be league history as the 3-1 on March 18, 1933 with two Johnson goals and one from Prior was enough to secure the Stags' first-ever league away victory at the 38th attempt! Earlier this season, the Stags won 3-1 thanks to strikes from Vaughan, Christie and Corden in a game that was sadly marred by poor refereeing by an FL rookie according to the Stagsnet report. Especially Darlington were the victims with eight yellow cards and a harsh red. And the Quakers have endured a difficult season both on and off the pitch and at one time looked likely to do a Halifax – that means being relegated from the FL for the second time – but have produced reasonable results after the turn of the year, i.e. a 2-0 win at Huddersfield – yet they are still fighting to avoid FL relegation – only one point ahead of three teams below them. Played for both sides: Gary Chapman, John Downie, Steve Harper, Ian Juryeff, Les McJannet, Lawrie Madden, Kenneth Murray, Francis O'Connor, John Reed. Home stats: P 39, W 27, D 6, L 6, GF 104, GA 51 Away stats: P 38, W 10, D 9, L 19, GF 46, GA 61 Season Home Date Away Date 1932-33 3-3 1932-11-05 3-1 1933-03-18 Div 3 (N) 1933-34 4-0 1934-01-27 4-1 1933-09-16 Div 3 (N) 1934-35 2-2 1935-04-20 0-1 1935-05-01 Div 3 (N) 1935-36 4-2 1935-09-14 1-2 1936-01-18 Div 3 (N) 1936-37 3-1 1937-04-24 0-0 1936-12-19 Div 3 (N) 1947-48 4-0 1948-01-31 2-1 1947-09-13 Div 3 (N) 1948-49 2-2 1949-01-29 2-1 1949-04-23 Div 3 (N) 1949-50 2-1 1950-03-25 2-2 1949-11-05 Div 3 (N) 1950-51 2-1 1950-08-21 2-1 1950-08-30 Div 3 (N) 1951-52 3-2 1952-04-26 1-2 1951-08-12 Div 3 (N) 1952-53 3-2 1952-09-29 1-2 1953-01-01 Div 3 (N) 1953-54 6-0 1953-12-12 2-1 1954-04-10 Div 3 (N) 1954-55 3-1 1955-04-18 1-3 1954-08-30 Div 3 (N) 1955-56 3-3 1955-10-08 1-3 1956-02-18 Div 3 (N) 1956-57 7-3 1956-11-03 3-1 1957-03-16 Div 3 (N) 1957-58 4-2 1957-09-21 0-2 1958-02-01 Div 3 (N) 1960-61 2-1 1960-09-24 2-3 1961-02-11 Div 4 (old) 1961-62 3-0 1962-04-28 1-3 1962-03-19 Div 4 (old) 1962-63 6-0 1962-11-10 1-2 1963-04-13 Div 4 (old) 1966-67 2-2 1967-01-21 1-1 1966-09-17 Div 3 (old) 1972-73 5-0 1973-04-24 3-2 1972-09-30 Div 4 (old) 1973-74 1-0 1973-09-29 0-1 1973-12-22 Div 4 (old) 1974-75 4-2 1974-10-05 1-2 1975-04-12 Div 4 (old) 1980-81 1-0 1980-09-06 2-2 1981-02-15 Div 4 (old) 1981-82 2-3 1982-03-06 0-1 1981-10-17 Div 4 (old) 1982-83 0-2 1982-10-30 0-0 1983-03-12 Div 4 (old) 1983-84 1-0 1984-04-14 0-3 1983-12-03 Div 4 (old) 1984-85 2-0 1985-01-01 1-3 1985-04-08 Div 4 (old) 1986-87 1-0 1987-04-28 1-2 1986-08-30 Div 3 (old) 1993-94 0-3 1994-04-30 0-2 1993-11-20 Div 3 1994-95 0-1 1994-08-30 0-0 1995-03-18 Div 3 1995-96 2-2 1995-09-12 1-1 1996-02-17 Div 3 1996-97 2-1 1997-04-26 4-2 1996-10-19 Div 3 1997-98 4-0 1998-02-21 0-0 1997-09-27 Div 3 1998-99 0-1 1998-09-05 1-5 1999-02-06 Div 3 1999-2000 1-2 2000-02-26 0-0 1999-09-18 Div 3 2000-01 3-2 2001-05-01 1-2 2000-02-12 Div 3 2001-02 4-2 2002-02-16 1-0 2001-10-13 Div 3 2003-04 3-1 2003-10-04 (at Field Mill) Div 3 Svante Bernhard aka Sweden Stag (pictured, above right) Details on goalscorers noted above in league games before the 1970's courtesy of the Centenary book |
Latest | April 2004