Darlington'S steady climb towards Division Three safety turned into a headlong dash this week with back to back victories.

Last Saturday's crucial 1-0 success at Macclesfield Town was followed by a 2-1 win over Cheltenham Town at the Reynolds Arena on Tuesday night.

That lifted Quakers into 14th spot in the table, nine points clear of the relegation places, and a win over fourth-bottom visitors Cambridge United tomorrow would almost certainly secure Nationwide League status for another season.

Not that manager David Hodgson, who deserves enormous credit for the transformation in the club's on-field fortunes, will allow anyone to relax just yet. He kept faith with the players who had prevailed in the vital relegation clash at Moss Rose, retaining Craig Russell, Ryan Valentine and David McGurk for the visit of the in-form Robins.

The trio had come in for the unavailable Neil Teggart, Ian Clark and Joey Hutchinson against the Silkmen and all three did well enough to keep their place in the side. Russell, the former Sunderland striker making the first start of his second spell at Darlington, grabbed the winner early in the second half.

The only change for Tuesday's game saw Brian Close, signed on a free transfer from Middlesbrough, start in place of rested skipper Neil Maddison in midfield.

The youngster produced an impressive display as Quakers got off to a storming start. Barry Conlon and McGurk had already forced good saves from visiting keeper Shane Higgs before the latter opened the scoring after 14 minutes when he diverted a knock back from Craig Liddle into the net off his knee.

The home side went further ahead six minutes before half-time when Conlon reacted quickly to a loose ball to beat Higgs, but Cheltenham hit back just before the break with a fine goal from Grant McCann.

The Robins worked hard in the second half in search of an equaliser, but they created few clear chances as the Quakers defence held firm to secure three more precious points.