Ilkeston 1 Darlington 1

DARLINGTON moved to the top of the table despite being held to a draw at Ilkeston last night, determinedly grinding out a point having had a man sent off early in the second-half.

Chris Hunter was dismissed just after Terry Galbraith had equalised for Quakers, meaning Martin Gray’s side were given a real test of their nerve.

That they succeeded was due to defensive resilience and organisation, thanks in part to Alan White being restored to the centre of defence, and in no thanks to the refereeing of Mark Howes.

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Having awarded Ilkeston an early penalty, he earned Gray’s wrath at full-time - for Hunter’s red card and failing to send off Ilkeston’s Lee Ndlovu.

White required lengthy treatment midway through the second half, leaving Quakers down to nine for a spell, after being elbowed by the Ilkeston forward, while Hunter was dismissed for a reckless challenge.

An aggrieved Gray said: “I felt the referee was poor tonight, very poor. His decision making was poor. Their manager, Gavin Strachan, has been almost apologetic about it. It was basic things.

“The sending off was a booking at the worst, and then you see Alan White need six stitches after having his eye bust. That’s a straight red for an elbow, but he didn’t give it.

“He’s apologised, but that’s the easy way out.”

The point gained sees Quakers leapfrog Blyth Spartans for at least 24 hours as there are fixtures this evening.

Having lost two successive games and conceded six goals in the process, Gray said: “It was important that we got back to having a good shape defensively, because they’re a very good attacking team. They counter attacked well down the right.

“We showed good character, we were patient and when we went down to ten men we managed the game well and kept the ball.

“It’s a big point. We’ve played Saturday and Monday, come here and played for 45 minutes with ten men.

“We started the well and I was very disappointed that they scored with a penalty, which was dubious. There was no contact made by Leon Scott, but the ref was very quick to give it.”

Ilkeston took the lead after Scott, recalled to the side, was adjudged to have fouled JJ Blake in the penalty area, and the former Nottingham Forest youngster stepped up to score from the spot.

To a Darlington team in need of a positive result after back-to-back defeats, the goal was a body blow.

Yet Quakers recovered and saw a lot of the ball, making inroads in the opposition half.

Goalkeeper Ross Durrant did well to dash off his line and save from Tom Portas, who was up front alongside Nathan Cartman, with his feet.

As well as White reverting to centre-back and Portas being up front, other changes saw Hunter right-back with Adam Mitchell at right-midfield.

While Quakers kept possession without hurting the hosts, Ilkeston came closest to scoring the next goal.

Kevin Burgess got a touch to a right-wing cross to take it off the head of Ndlovu, and then Jonathan Edwards headed against the bar, but it was Quakers who were celebrating next.

At the beginning of the second half Galbraith, who replaced the dropped Ian Watson, scrambled home at the far post after a Mitchell corner, giving Darlington belief that they could take three points off a team who had not won in six league and cup matches.

The belief lasted two minutes. An Ilkeston counter attack ended with Hunter taking down Williams, the Darlington defender instantly dismissed.

Gray switched to 4-4-1, Cartman on his own up front, and they adapted, passing well in the midfield third, but the lone striker was isolated.

White spent an alarming amount of time in the dugout receiving stitches after an altercation with Ndlovu’s elbow, leaving Darlington vulnerable, and as the half wore on, Ilkeston enjoyed increasing amounts of possession, yet Darlington’s defence stood firm.

White returned with a large bandage around his head, in time for the closing stages when at times Quakers had almost every man back, chasing the ball.

“Look after the ball, keep the ball,” shouted assistant manager Brian Atkinson, as the draw became Quakers’ clear aim.

They secured it as Ilkeston wasted their best chance when Edwards put too much power on a cross, giving Ndlovu too much to do to convert in the centre of the goalmouth.

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