Darlington finally overcame their dreadful away record to chalk up a battling win at in-form Carlisle United on Tuesday night.

The 3-1 success condemned the home side to their first defeat of the year and gave Quakers a glimpse of the promotion play-off places. They are seven points behind seventh-placed Shrewsbury Town with two games in hand.

Mark Ford gave them the perfect start at Brunton Park, scoring with a left-foot shot from the edge of the box after just 55 seconds.

But the home side dominated the rest of the first half and equalised just before the interval with a dubious penalty. Foran converted the spot kick after the referee decided Gary Pearson had brought down the Carlisle striker.

But Quakers fought back and regained the lead seven minutes into the second half with a close range effort from Ian Clark.

Craig Liddle made sure of the three points when he headed home a Neil Maddison cross eight minutes from time. It was the defender's second goal in two matches following his strike in the 2-1 defeat at Rushden and Diamonds last Saturday.

He had brought Quakers level ten minutes into the second half after the home side had gone ahead through Paul Hall in first-half injury time.

Darlington played well enough to earn at least a point, but Onandi Lowe grabbed Rushden's winner from a corner after 78 minutes.

The defeat at Nene Park is Darlington's only reverse in five matches since going out of the FA Cup and Tommy Taylor's men deserve credit for picking up ten points out of a possible 15.

They have coped well with a lengthy injury list while the games have been coming thick and fast, but there seems to be no sign of a let up in either problem.

Ford went off at half-time against Carlisle with a groin strain, while Simon Betts received a deep gash above his knee which may sideline him for the rest of the season. Keith Finch kept his place in goal after Andy Collett failed a fitness test.

Having recorded their first away win since the victory at Hartlepool in August, Quakers now need to keep their good home form going against Shrewsbury tomorrow and Cheltenham Town on Tuesday.