NEVER a club to make life easy for themselves, should Darlington finish in the top five they will have done it the hard way.

Saturday saw them slip up against another of the division’s strugglers for the second time this month.

Three weeks after a last-gasp equaliser gave them a 2-2 draw at relegation-threatened Worcester City, they needed a repeat performance at third-bottom Gainsborough Trinity to salvage a point.

With only 16 minutes to play they were 3-1 down, with new goalkeeper Adam Bartlett partially responsible, until two goals from Dave Syers avoided a shock defeat, the last of them coming deep into added on time.

There was no jubilation though, no celebration, simply relief that humiliation had been avoided against a team that had lost seven of their previous eight games.

Darlington were not the only ones who had a wobble at the weekend – they were one of five teams in the top seven who failed to win.

“Overall, the results were good for us, so it’s a massive point gained,” concluded manager Martin Gray, whose team dropped to seventh.

“We were 3-1 down, so to get a point out of it is very good. We showed a lot of desire and determination to get a point, which is what we always ask of them.

“We had enough chances to win the game comfortably. We went 1-0 up and had one or two chances to make it 2-0.

“It was a controlled game until we conceded the first goal.”

The first Gainsborough goal was swiftly followed by their second, the game turning on its head in the 33rd and 34th minutes, when the home team scored twice to wipe out Darlington’s lead, given to them by Mark Beck.

His 12th-minute goal was reward for a dominant start, with no danger posed by opposition that had conceded in 30 consecutive league games before Saturday.

Beck made it 31 when Chris Hunter hoisted a ball forward, goalkeeper George Willis charged off his line and allowed the striker to head in his 15th goal of the season with a towering header.

A goal ahead and in control, Darlington were having fun in the sun.

But they were unable to make it 2-0, Syers coming closest when he was wide when connecting with Stephen Thompson’s cross-shot.

Then Bartlett’s debut disaster began. He failed to punch clear Greg Tempest’s free-kick, allowing Matt Wilson to head home for 1-1. And before they knew it it was 2-1.

After a Gainsborough throw was flicked on by Chib Chilaka, Terry Galbraith shielded the ball back to the goalkeeper, but Bartlett did not react quickly enough and in nipped Ashley Worsfold to score.

The defender can take some of the blame, a lack of communication clearly the cause, though Gray said the former Hartlepool keeper was at fault and apologised to his new team-mates.

Trailing 2-1 at the break had not been in script, so to fall 3-1 down soon after the restart was a hammer blow.

Chilaka delivered it, reacting quickest to a long throw into the penalty area, the Gainsborough striker prodding home to capitalise on hesitant defending.

Gary Brown and Kevin Burgess are both likely to return to the centre of defence on Wednesday at home to Bradford Park Avenue, but Bartlett will keep his place ahead of Ed Wilczynski.

“There’s no point hiding away from it, the keeper was at fault for all three goals,” admitted Gray.

“But one thing I want to make clear, I am standing by him. He’s the keeper for us long-term. He’s got great experience “He apologised in the changing room. He’ll have had bad days before and come through it. Yes, he didn’t want to have a debut like that, but we ground out a result.”

Gray sent on Josh Gillies and Harvey Saunders, switching to three up front, but with 20 minutes to go his team still trailed, so then came Arran Wearmouth’s introduction, returning from almost a year out with a cruciate injury.

With Darlington desperate, he went into a four-man attack and caused problems for a team that had not won at home since August.

Quakers had hope when Syers made it 3-2. Gillies’ delivery was headed on by Beck, Syers heading in after Willis blocked his initial effort, giving Darlington enough time to score again.

They had not managed it by the 90th minute, but in the last of six minutes of added time Josh Falkingham’s cross fell to Syers and he turned the ball home from close range.

Gainsborough were gutted. Players fell to the floor in unison, their manager Dave Frecklington raged in a post-match interview about the amount of time referee Paul Graham had added, but that was his own team’s fault.

Persistent time-wasting from Frecklington’s players, six substitutions and a head injury contributed to the added time.

Gray added: “We kept going and kept going, we showed great character and all three subs gave us something.

“Josh, Arran and Harvey added some tempo and helped us get the point.

“So it could’ve been worse. We could’ve come away with a defeat and you’d have been scratching your head.”