Darlington 3 New Mills 1

The small number of tickets remaining for Wednesday’s play-off showdown will be snapped up today, two days in advance of Darlington’s biggest game of the season.

They hope it will be followed by an even bigger one three days after the semi-final with Spennymoor Town, most of the tickets for which were bought at Saturday’s meaningless match with relegated New Mills.

The fixture could have been Quakers’ promotion party, instead they rested first-choice players who instead had a training session at lunchtime as they prepared for the play-offs.

Martin Gray had made it clear he’d field a team of teenagers, yet the fixture attracted a healthy gate of 1,112 boosted by a number of folk in attendance primarily to secure their place at Heritage Park on Wednesday when there will be a lot more at stake.

For the youngsters involved, however, Saturday was a big occasion as they gained vital experience while entertaining supporters with an encouraging display.

Seven from the youth system started, another four on the bench, and they guided Darlington to a deserved 3-1 win.

Gray said: “It’s about the bigger picture and today was a chance to give the kids some experience in the first team. It sets them up for the reserves for next year and hopefully a first-team place in the future.

“If you look over the season, New Mills have had some great results, they’ve beaten Warrington, so for a team 90 per cent made of teenagers, 16 and 17-year-olds, to play in front of over 1,000 people is a massive experience for them and hopefully they’ll have learned a lot.

“We’ve got a very strong youth system and it’s about trusting people and giving them a chance.”

The manager watched from the main stand where he enjoyed a good view of Nelson Mota’s opener on 17 minutes.

The winger, usually a substitute, collected a cross-field pass from left-back Paul Weldon, who made his first appearance of the season, cut inside and smashed home at the near post.

Had New Mills a goalkeeper between the posts then Mota may not have scored, but it would be cruel to criticise Aaron Chalmers due to him being a centre-back who had nobly donned the gloves as the visitors did not have a keeper available.

New Mills soon hit back when striker Brandon Windsor levelled. He controlled a pass down the left, held off Matty Lovegreen and fired beyond Mark Bell.

Captain for the day, Bell made his first league start of the season – he’d be needed for the play-off final if Darlington qualify.

After a start in which few passes were strung together, certainly not by a woeful New Mills team, Quakers’ kids grew in confidence and played neat football.

Gray added: “You could see that they were a little bit nervy. Some of them were a little bit out of character, it was just nerves.

“It doesn’t matter what level you’re at, when you’re asked to step up to a different type of pressure nerves do play a part.

“I thought they handled it really well and once they got a goal it settled them down and you saw one or two flourish as the game went on. It was nice to be able to sit in the stand for a change and enjoy it.”

Striker Matty Pennal put Darlington ahead five minutes into the second half with a goal that owed much to Ian Watson’s run down the flank.

Playing at left midfield, his unchallenged run ended in a pinpoint cross to the near post where Pennal deftly headed home for 2-1.

He was unfortunate not to score a second, a side-footed finish from 18 yards rebounding off the base of the post into the keeper’s hands after good work by impressive strike-partner Ryu Williamson.

Two more teenagers came off the bench, Lewis Walton and Adam Lee-Shield, and they contributed the third goal.

Walton’s cracking strike was lashed home after Lee-Shield’s cross been had been cleared to the edge of penalty area, and it meant Darlington finished the season on 99 goals.

No matter what the outcome on Wednesday, Gray does not shy away from the fact that his team should have been celebrating on Saturday.

He admitted. “We’ve fallen short regarding the championship and we’ve got to look at that going forward. It was in our own hands to win, we can’t hide away from that fact.

“We didn’t do what we set out to do and that’s win the championship. Having said that, Salford were clear in November, so there was a big turnaround and we got ourselves ahead of them.

“Overall, we’ve had a first position and two seconds, we’ve got a play-off to look forward to and we’re looking to go one step further.”

*The other play-off semi-final sees Bamber Bridge host Northwich Victoria tomorrow after they swapped places in the table on Saturday.

Goals: Mota (17, 1-0); Windsor (26, 1-1); Pennal (50, 2-1), Walton (71, 3-1)

Bookings: Lovegreen (82, dissent), Knight (84, foul)

Referee: Lucy May (Bedlington) 8

Attendance: 1,112

Darlington (4-4-2): Bell 6; D Mitchell 6, Lovegreen 7, Marley 7, Weldon 7; Mota 7 (Lee-Shield 60, 6), Wheeler-Andrews 7, Wilson 7, Watson 7 (Walton 56, 7); WILLIAMSON 7, Pennal 7 (Briggs 73). Subs (not used): Jameson (gk), Rees

New Mills (4-4-2): Chalmers 6; Hopper 5, Moss 5, O’Brien 5, Barrett 5, Vincent 6, Pollard 4, Knight 3, Owdlabi 4 (Henderson 50, 5), Fitton 5, WINDSOR 6. Subs (not used): Hampson

MAN OF THE MATCH

RYU Williamson – Plenty of workrate from the striker