Jarrod Black: Chasing Pack

Chapter 5

MeadowThe trip to New Meadow for the opening game took longer than Jarrod had anticipated. The leg after leaving the M6 to the stadium seemed to take hours, despite there being relatively light traffic. In the absence of Mitch Short, still on loan at Glasgow Rangers, Wes had started the comical introduction to the host town, a tradition that was revered on Darlington bus journeys. It was some great patter, big on sheep jokes, but he’d done it a little too early. As a result, Jarrod felt a little weary stepping off the coach, when he would usually feel invigorated by the tour guide spiel. He reckoned he wasn’t the only one feeling that way.

There was something not right, that was for sure. Jarrod was named on the bench when he was sure that he would be in the starting line-up. Peter was in midfield with fresh new signing Benson Gadriga, the formation much like Monday night’s starting eleven that misfired in the last friendly game. Gary and Des were deep in conversation in the corner of the changing room. Benson was still getting to know his teammates after arriving two days ago. He was a player of immense potential that Gary and his scouts had tracked all last season at non-league York City. He was on the radar of Championship clubs too, but the offers were not right for the player. Gerry had become involved as the transfer window approached its conclusion. Armed with the loan payments from Newcastle and Rangers for Jarrod and Mitch respectively, they went in with one last offer and that broke the stalemate. A handsome fee for a non-league part-timer was exchanged and the young midfielder made the short journey to Darlington the next day to get ready for the opening league fixture.

Jarrod had mixed emotions about being on the bench. He was club captain. That didn’t mean that he was guaranteed a place in the team, but his presence in the squad was deemed vital. Gary hadn’t offered any reason for his omission for this one, other than that he was taking a calculated risk. So many times, a new signing at a club had to be eased into the team after a few weeks, but Gary wanted to make a statement here and Gerry wanted his long-term target to make an instant impact.

The warm-up was a little laboured; at least that’s what Jarrod felt. The Darlo fans were out in force, but the usual sun-swathed conditions that heralded the start of a new season were replaced by driving rain. At least the supporters were undercover, and they were in good voice. Jarrod tried to instil a sense of urgency into the final warm-up and made sure that he put in an extra effort in a passing drill where he was trying to intercept. In the changing room after the warm-up, Jarrod felt strange to be in his tracksuit, but still made a point of pumping up his teammates. Connor received some strong words—Jarrod had always thought that he was capable of more and let him know that he should be running at his defender from the first minute.

He had encouraging words for Peter and Benson, instructing Benson to stay close to Peter when the opposition had possession, and to move quickly into position when they won it back. As the players walked out of the tunnel to the tune of ‘Catch Me If You Can’, Gary put his arm around Jarrod and squeezed.

“You’re itching to be out there, aren’t you?”

“Of course,” said Jarrod. “I hope I don’t have to come on when we’re losing. I hope we’re celebrating by the end of the ninety minutes.”

That was a telling statement. It was stinging and was meant to sow a seed in Gary’s mind. Jarrod surprised himself with his words. It was almost a veiled threat, the words of someone who would be tutting and shaking their head if it all went wrong. Jarrod felt a little uneasy at his thoughts. Des had an encouraging word as they made their way into the players’ seats behind the technical area.

“It pains me to see you on the bench, Jarrod,” said Des. “I know how much this means to you and how much you want to be out there leading the team. I think the fans will get a surprise.”

Jarrod took his place on the bench in between Roni and Ghali Barbera, and he felt surprisingly relaxed. The first eleven was in position now and a roar started from the crowd, growing in volume until the referee blew to start the game and the roar turned to applause. It wasn’t long before the supporters were absorbed in the game, the home team starting at a quick tempo.

The failings that were obvious in the first half of Monday’s game were evident here again. There was a gap between midfield and defence, with debutant Benson trying just that little bit too hard to get involved in the action. Anton up front was also finding the going tough, looking forlornly at the long balls played up to him with no chance of beating the central defender for height. At least Will Telfer, last year’s top scorer, was involved and was trying to find space for the flick-on.

The party atmosphere in the away end had almost disappeared as Darlo toiled and weathered a storm of attacks from the home side. A litany of telegraphed passes brought groans from the bench, Gary and Des getting fidgety. On the half hour, central defender Raynor Gunn clattered into his man on the edge of the box, a petulant response to some gamesmanship from the opposing centre-forward. After a minute of setting the wall and working out who could and couldn’t be in it, the Town left midfielder stepped up and looped a terrific shot over the defenders and past Wes for 1–0. Gary spun around in disgust. Jarrod nestled his chin on his clenched fist. New Meadow was rocking.

Half time in the changing room was no place for the faint-hearted. Jarrod had never seen Gary so upset. Physio Sash was tending to Connor who looked as if he’d been playing in the mud, his hair and face coated with dirt and his shirt ripped at the collar. Gary paced up and down the room, his demeanour changing from angry to pleading. How could they let their fans down with a performance like this? Jarrod was taking this all in. He’d find it useful at the sports psychology course he was enrolled in on Monday at St George’s Park as part of his long-running goal to get a UEFA A Licence.

There were no changes at the break, and Darlington responded to Gary’s words after half time. Suddenly there was composure, and Anton began to get some time on the ball. The running of Dean Minto and Connor was starting to cause panic in the home team’s defence. A long cross from the right by Connor was headed back across goal by Anton and Will lashed the ball against the bar and over. This was more like it.

Benson was toiling with little effect in midfield. The first change saw Ghali replace him in an unfamiliar central midfield role, but once it was clear that the replacement was finding it equally challenging, the second change saw Anton sacrificed, and Jarrod entered the fray. Ghali went up front and Jarrod found his place next to Peter and gave a rallying cry to his teammates around him.

The tempo was immediately raised, and Darlington started to press higher and higher. Defender Freddie Asquith found himself in attack as the away team broke away quickly from a Shrewsbury corner. Jarrod’s delicate through ball saw Freddie race clear of the last man and shimmy to dummy the keeper. His lack of experience in these situations though saw him push the ball too far towards the byline and the resulting shot was from such an acute angle that it flashed across the face of the goal and into touch on the far side.

With five minutes remaining, Darlington had been on the attack for the majority of the half. A momentary lapse in concentration from Raynor saw him caught in possession and the Shrewsbury striker picked his pocket, ran through on goal, and showed Freddie how to finish, through the legs of Wes for the decisive second goal. Jarrod was disgusted, but put his arm around Raynor to console him, as the stadium bounced along to the rock anthem that saluted the goal.

Jarrod booted the door when he arrived in the changing room after an extended PR session with the Darlington fans at the away end. Freddie followed him in and booted it again, then Raynor smashed it against the wall with such force that some of the paint flaked off the heavy wooden door. This was not the Darlington team that Jarrod knew and loved. Gary was calmer than at half time. After all, the game was over and there was nothing he could do about the result. He was full of praise where it counted. Peter was singled out for his never-say-die attitude, and Connor’s display earned him a lot of encouraging words. But they had lost and were unfortunate to be on the end of a two-goal defeat.

That could have derailed Darlo’s season, but Jarrod knew that his teammates had been a little off, even from the moment they stepped off the coach, and he wasn’t concerned. The Radio 5 roundup as the coach pulled away highlighted the damning reality of twenty-third place; only Lincoln City had lost by more and were keeping them off the bottom of the table.

Jarrod’s belief in his team to bounce back from that opening day defeat was justified. The first round League Cup tie at Barnsley on the Wednesday night was a massive shot in the arm. Jarrod started the game alongside Peter, and he was instrumental in a 3–1 win against one of their League One rivals.

By the time the following weekend was over, and the second round of league games had been played, Darlington were back in mid-table, a 2–1 home win against Plymouth Argyle at the Arena sending them up to the heady heights of fourteenth. They had two wins under their belts and the signs were good for more of the same as they looked to gain a foothold in this difficult division.

Jarrod had cemented his place in the side after those two commanding displays and Benson had to be content with a place on the subs’ bench, despite his obvious talent and much-hyped transfer. A victory for experience over youth, Jarrod thought, although he was genuinely concerned that Benson might not recover from his difficult start with the club.