Darlington boss slams players after ‘ridiculous’ errors hand Hartlepool derby day victory

Having been on top for the majority of the quarter final tie, the Quakers looked set to seal a memorable triumph over their near neighbours.

But a late comeback - which Wright believes was down to some ‘ridiculous’ defending - handed Pools a late derby day triumph.

And the Darlington manager was seething in his post-match review, believing his side would have been out of sight were it not for individual errors.

“I didn’t see it coming,” admitted Wright, speaking to the club’s official website.

“We should have been out of sight, let’s not beat around the bush.

“The two goals are not good enough and individual errors have cost us.

“We’ve spoken time and time again about winning your headers in the box and it didn’t happen.

“Then to give another goal away straight from kick-off, it’s ridiculous.

“We shot ourselves in the foot and I think that probably highlights why Jonny [Burn, Darlington defender] came out the team. Maybe he was rusty, but he has got to do better than that tonight.

“Individuals have cost us today, but we win, lose and draw as a team and stick together.

“We should have been out of sight.

“We know that. We’ve missed chances and I don’t think we played as well as we could have.

“That could be down to playing on a concrete pitch, but we should have been better than that.

“We’ve set our standards and we’ve been playing well and in good form.”

And Wright was disappointed that his side failed to claim victory in front of a sizeable home support.

Over 1,500 Quakers fans packed into Blackwell Meadows - but were ultimately left disappointed.

“The Darlington fans, this is their derby,” added Wright.

“We’ve had more home fans here tonight than we did on Saturday against Spennymoor and I think that shows everything.”