IT’S a measure of how Darlington’s season has deteriorated that a 1-1 draw at Boston United can be considered a step in the right direction.

The accumulative effect of recent poor results and the number of players unavailable for selection means that they left Lincolnshire on Saturday feeling satisfied.

Frustrated too, no doubt, that they had not been able to hang on to the points against a bang average team close to the relegation zone with only one win in seven games behind them.

Stephen Thompson gave Darlington the lead from the penalty spot, only to see the Pilgrims exploit weak defending with 12 minutes to go.

But it was a performance much improved on the previous week’s humbling by South Shields, so there were few complaints, especially bearing in mind Quakers’ lack of players.

Seven were missing for myriad reasons.

Chris Hunter is injured, the transfer-listed Kevin Burgess was suspended, Gary Brown has not yet had the all-clear from doctors due to effects of concussion, Tom Portas’ partner gave birth on Saturday morning, Dave Syers was performing best man duties at his brother’s wedding and Mark Beck has a persistent knee problem.

Josh Gillies was ill, meaning he dropped to the bench for the first time this season.

Furthermore, James Caton (groin) and Phil Turnbull (hamstring) left the field injured, exacerbating the worst spell of injuries Darlington have endured since 2012.

Statistically, they are also in their joint-worst form since 2012. It’s now one win in ten games in league and cup, something they also did last season.

A break from the two-games-a-week cycle can only be of benefit to an injury-hit squad, the team not being in action until a rearranged match at Curzon Ashton this coming weekend.

Gray said: “It’s been good not to have to get them ready straight away for a midweek match and have the chance to do some work in training, and I must say that they were outstanding in training this week.

“I’ve been at them, there’s no question about that, I demand an awful lot from the players. They gave me everything today, they stepped up.

“It’s very easy to shoot people when they’re down. You find out what people are about in times like this. Myself, the players and the staff have a strong togetherness and the reaction has been great.

“They set their standards in training on Tuesday and Thursday. It’s a clean start for everybody; today was a well-deserved point and it’s something to build on.”

Due to Beck being unavailable for the first time since the opening game of last season, Gray kept James Caton in the starting XI, putting him up front alongside the recalled Nathan Cartman, who was one of four changes.

Adam Dawson, on loan from Tranmere Rovers, was handed a debut on the right wing, and he showed occasional flashes of his ability, firing over a couple of tricky crosses.

With David Ferguson’s attacking input blunted by being at left-back, Darlington did not do a lot going forward in an uneventful first half, during which Boston would have taken the lead had Quakers’ Adam Bartlett not saved a penalty.

Conceded by former Boston right-back Liam Marrs for tripping Jack Thomas, James Clifton spot-kick was poor, too tame and too central to bother Bartlett.

Thompson showed Clifton how it’s done 15 minutes into the second half.

After Harvey Saunders, on for Caton, was fouled by Jordan Keane, Thompson rammed the ball home for a notable goal, as it means he has now scored in all six of his seasons with Darlington.

The goal was Quakers’ only shot on target and should have been enough to beat Boston.

Adam Murray’s men offered little, Darlington looking like taking victory, but substitute Kabongo Tshimanga had other ideas.

He had been on only nine minutes before latching on to a harmless punt down the middle, catching Terry Galbraith out of position, and once he got to the byline, beating Galbraith again, he squeezed the ball under Bartlett.

“I’m disappointed with the goal we conceded because it’s a soft one,” admitted Gray. “It took a deflection, but it’s how he got into that position in the first place, he should never have got there.

“We’d dealt with that all game. It was a lapse of concentration, a bit of tiredness, fatigue, whatever it may be.

“We should not have allowed him to get in behind in that area, but he did.”

Still, it was better than last week’s horror show.

Gray added: “It had to be a better performance. One thing we were looking for was a vast improvement in our attitude towards working hard.

“We had to do that today because it was a tough game.

“We had three players missing today who started last week, plus one on the bench who is full of flu.

“It’s been difficult. We had seven lads who have been involved in most games who could not be involved today. So to come down here and get back on track makes it a good point going forward.”