Darlington were looking to expand their six match streak without being beaten at The Northern Echo Arena on Saturday. With a very strong wind and a very cold temperature the tide appeared against them, but with Southport having been beaten on Tuesday night the tide did appear to turn somewhat in a positive direction for Mark Cooper’s men.

The first half was fairly bleak with many missed chances for the home side, with a few very close shots by Liam Hatch, one of the better players for the Quakers on Saturday. Southport however were very unlucky with the only chances being long range efforts superbly saved by Sam Russell.

The second half continued in Darlington’s favour with the ball going to appear in the back of Southport’s net at some point. However many close range efforts were scuppered by the “Men in black and white”. It was then Southport’s turn to attempt to get the ball in the back of the net which was also very unsuccessful with any shots once again saved by the Quakers keeper Sam Russell who’s provided invaluable support for the team since re joining in the summer.

A very tense final 10 minutes were in store for the 1663 fans present at the Arena, with the Quakers awarded a penalty, in which Chris Senior’s kick from the spot was taken easily by the Merseysiders keeper. However Mark Cooper made a last minute decision to replace Joe Clarke with John McReady paid off in the 92nd minute with a vital winner for the home team followed by a magnificent celebration by the Quakers. As the match came to a close Darlington were not going to let this match slip away from them with some fantastic defending by the whole team.

Robert Smith