DARLINGTON last night bolstered their promotion bid by completing the shock signing of the division’s leading scorer Nathan Cartman from Harrogate RA.

Quakers have paid a transfer fee, undisclosed say both clubs, to bring in a player who has already scored 36 goals in all competitions this season.

Five of his 29 league goals were penalties, the most recent being in a win on December 28 over Quakers’ promotion rivals Salford City, who The Northern Echo understands were also tracking the former Leeds United youngster.

“I’m delighted to bring him in,” said manager Martin Gray. “I think the fans will be pleased too.

“You can’t ignore Nathan’s record. Every time you see the results come in on a Saturday you see Cartman below Harrogate. Every week his name was there.

“He’s got 36 goals this season in all competitions, 29 in the league. I think he’s had 25 in each of the previous two seasons.

“Ten clubs have been watching him, he’s been invited for trials in the Football League, I know Blackburn and Oxford were watching him, but we are the only club that sat down with him and I’m thrilled to get him.

“Hopefully his name will be below Darlington on the results every Saturday now.”

Supporters will have their first opportunity to see him Cartman in action on Saturday when Darlington face Prescot Cables at Heritage Park, weather permitting.

Bagging 29 league goals so far puts him 13 ahead of the Evo-Stik First Division North second-top scorer, Droylsden’s Ciaran Kilheeney.

That scoring goals has hardly been a problem for Quakers this term, having found the net 50 times in 22 league games, speaks volumes for Gray’s desire to bring in Cartman, a player he registered an interest in months ago.

Completing the signing on a two-and-a-half year contract brings to an end a lengthy pursuit as Gray made attempts to sign the 25-year-old soon after the teams met at Heritage Park in October, when Darlington won 7-1.

That approach led to Harrogate putting the player on a contract, but Darlington registered their interest again on Monday, leading to officials of both clubs meeting on Tuesday evening in York and within 24 hours Quakers had captured arguably the Northern Premier League’s most coveted player.

Gray said: “Myself, Dave Mills and Martin Jesper travelled to York on Tuesday and we spoke to their chairman and manager as well as Nathan. They were all in there, they wanted to what was right for all parties.

“I wanted to look him in the eye and see if he wanted this for the right reasons, for football reasons, and he does.

“He wants to play at a higher level, he wants to play in front of big crowds and he wants to progress and achieve something in the game.”

Gray last night paid tribute to the striker’s former club for their conduct during the transfer as well as Darlington directors Dave Mills and Martin Jesper.

“Harrogate were excellent to deal with in all of this. He’s been a big player for them, but they did not want to stand in his way. They want to see him progress. Their manager, Billy, used to be a coach at Darlington when we were in the Football League, so maybe that affinity helped I don’t know.

“Dave Mills and Martin Jesper deserve a lot of credit too because they have backed the manager. These things don’t happen without the manager being backed financially.”

RA manager Billy Miller, once a coach in Quakers’ youth system, was disappointed to see Cartman go, saying: “We’re sad to see him leave as he has been with our management team for five seasons.

“He’s been a fantastic servant to the club and everyone loves him at the club so we’re really pleased to see him progress.

“He’s a lovely lad and his goals speak volumes. He benefits from wide players and Darlington have that.

“Stephen Thompson is one of the best players in the league and I think it won’t be a case of if he scores, it is a case of when he scores.

“Carts going to Darlington also shows the pedigree of our club. We’ve seen Josh Windass go to Accrington, Lamin Colley to Bradford Park Avenue and Jake Lawlor to Guiseley and now Carts to Darlington.

“So we have a track record of development players and helping them move to bigger clubs.”

*Darlington captain Gary Brown and left-back Ian Watson appear at a talk-in this evening at the Railway Tavern, Darlington on Thursday, 8pm. Admission is £3.

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