Darlington were handed a boost last night when leading scorer Amar Purewal signed a new deal to extend his stay with the Ebac Northern League club into next season.

His contract was due to expire at the end of the current season, when he could have moved on in a free transfer.

Quakers manager Martin Gray, aware that the player would likely to have attracted interest elsewhere after an impressive campaign so far, was delighted to secure Purewal to an 18-month deal.

The contract includes a one-year option in the club's favour, so the deal represents Purewal committing himself to Quakers until the end of 2014-15.

"He wants to play at a higher level and he wants to do it with us so we're delighted to do this bit of business," said Gray.

"He would've been out of contract and there's plenty of clubs that would've wanted him. He's scored something like 20 goals in his last two seasons and he's got 14 for us already.

"The likes of Blyth, Whitby and Spennymoor would all have wanted him."

Darlington, leaders in Division One, begin 2013 with a trip to bottom-of-table South Shields on Saturday.