Dickman left frustrated as South Shields fall to defeat against Darlington

Elliott Dickman bemoaned shortcomings at both ends of the pitch as South Shields fell to a narrow defeat against National League North play-off rivals Darlington.

Both sides had chances to open the scoring before former Mariners striker Cedric Main punished a lack of concentration in defence with a neat first touch and prolific finish on the half-hour mark. The Quakers proved to be a tough nut to crack for Dickman’s side - but there were chances for an equaliser as Lucas De Bolle, Tom Allan and Paul Blackett all went close. However, a disciplined and organised Darlo side kept a deserved clean sheet and they could argue their win should have been more comfortable after on-loan Sunderland youngster Caden Kelly hit the post and Main was denied after the Mariners failed to deal with a cross into their area.

Speaking after the game, Dickman stressed that the ‘little moments’ didn’t go his side’s way during the defeat - but conceded there was a need to be ‘a bit crisp and cleaner’ in the final third.

He told The Gazette: “The goal we conceded is preventable. We have that in us and we need to be better with situations like that but that’s something we can work on. We had moments when we were good but there were moments when we could have moved the ball quicker, been a bit crisp and cleaner. Teams tend to come here and make it difficult for us and Darlington certainly did that and then they looked to beat us on the counter-attack. It’s frustrating but there are fine margins and there would have been a different feeling if we had taken one of a chances. The experience Darlington have got, it’s not easy to create things but we did create chances and there were maybe just not enough numbers in the box. There was just not enough care with the final pass, those little moments define the game and it hasn’t gone our way.”

There was a familiar face at the 1st Cloud Arena as former Mariner Matty Pattison formed part of the club’s coaching staff for the game. Dickman remains on the lookout for a new assistant manager after Andy Inness accepted an offer to work within the academy setup at Sunderland recently and the Mariners boss confirmed there will be a conversation held with former Newcastle United and Norwich City midfielder Pattison over the coming days.

He explained: “We are looking. We have Matty Pattison helping us this week and it might be something longer-term for Matty. Andy had the opportunity and we wish him good luck. This is Patta’s week and we will sit down at the end of the week to see if it’s something he wants to do and if it’s something we want to do and have that conversation. If not we will look further afield but there is no immediate rush or panic. We have good people in and around the dressing room, good people in the building, a lot of senior heads we can lean on if needed. We trust them and I know the lads do so although it’s disappointing to lose Andy, we will keep moving forwards.”

South Shields are back in action on Saturday afternoon when Hereford are the visitors to the 1st Cloud Arena.