A calamity in Darlington’s defence in the closing stages of the tie cost Quakers an FA Cup replay with Scarborough Athletic.

Will Hatfield had equalised late on with a spot-kick, but with two minutes to go Quakers conceded a penalty in farcical circumstances, scored by Scarborough, to throw away the draw.

The first Quakers error came after seven minutes when defender Jassem Sukar was guilty of a dreadful miss.

The defender, playing in back-three, headed well wide of Scarborough’s goal despite being picked out in acres of space by Hatfield’s free-kick from the right.

Darlington handed debuts to new signings, goalkeeper David Robson and centre-back Jack Hannah, and Robson passed his first test, holding on to a Scarborough free-kick whipped in by Lewis Maloney after Kallum Griffiths tripped Alex Brown.

Griffiths was involved at the other end on 32 minutes, hitting a tame shot at Joe Cracknell after the energetic Hatfield had rolled the ball into the wingback’s path.

Cracknell clawed the ball out of the air when Andrew Nelson had a shot at goal from inside the penalty area, one of the hosts’ few glimpses of goal as Darlington enjoyed good possession but were lacking in the final third.

They were unable to make the most of their half-chances, whereas the visitors took one of theirs just before half-time.

The goal came after two corners in quick succession, both taken by Maloney. The second was returned to him, he fired the ball back into the danger area and striker Frank Mulhern deftly headed the ball past Robson.

Bizarrely, Mulhern chose to celebrate by mimicking shooting a gun directly in front of the home fans, provocative behaviour for which he was booked by referee James Bancroft.

The goal was the first time Scarborough had led in an away match this season - prior to today, they had lost five and drawn one of their previous six away games.

Quakers needed a response in the second half, but frustratingly their chances kept falling to Griffiths, whose track record demonstrates that he is simply not a threat in front of goal.

He wasted two headed chances. The first, like Sukar before him, was somehow off-target after perfect cross, this time from Jordan Mustoe, and the second similarly when Ben Liddle picked him out at the far post.

At least Griffiths was on target with his third attempt, but it was a simple save for Cracknell.

Quakers, like the first 45 minutes, worked hard and had plenty of the ball without creating many clear chances, until they were awarded a penalty with 15 minutes to go.

Awarded for handball against Will Thornton, Hatfield blasted his team level when he hammered home from the spot to put Darlington on course for a replay.

Scarborough, however, suddenly began to cause problems. Maloney blasted a fine opportunity over the bar from the edge of the area, wasting a chance created for him by Luca Colville’s quick footwork on the right.

And then Thornton headed into the ground and over the bar after a corner.

But then followed chaos in Quakers’ defence. Hannah forced Robson into a save with an overhit pass, and with Michael Coulson about to tap home he was pushed by Toby Lees to concede a penalty which Maloney buried.

It was a deeply disappointing end to the contest, ending Darlington’s interest in the FA Cup in the third qualifying round and their thoughts now turn to the league.

They are bottom of the table and next Saturday they are at top-of-the-table Tamworth.