Northern League: Jarrow boss praises new signing after win against FC Hartlepool

Jarrow manager Kennie Malia praised new signing Chris McDonald after his side claimed a comprehensive home win against FC Hartlepool and boosted their hopes of securing a first ever promotion into the Northern League’s top tier.

Malia swooped to sign the Dunston defender on a duel-registration earlier this week and he made an immediate impact after he was introduced as a substitute on the hour-mark by scoring a goal and providing assists for Ryan Hardie and Niall Smith to put the seal on an impressive three points late on.

The win means Jarrow are now unbeaten in their last 18 league games and have not been beaten on their home patch since last August - and those statistics left Malia delighted with how his side are progressing.

He told The Gazette: “It was a fantastic win and we have now extended our unbeaten league run to 18 games. Another very pleasing stat which we are very proud of is that we have now made it 25 games at home unbeaten and that run stretches all the way back to the end of August 2025. We played some brilliant football, there were four goals and another clean sheet. We had four different goalscorers and what a performance from new man Chris McDonald, who we have signed this week from Dunston. He scored and was massively involved in two other goals after coming on at the latter stages of the game.”

Jarrow will now turn their focus towards a top of the table clash at leaders Billingham Town next Saturday afternoon.

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