IT would not have taken an expert in body language to decipher Martin Gray’s mood as he headed for the changing room at full-time. There was a puff of the cheeks and his head was bowed, yet the Darlington’s manager’s team had won 2-1.

Quakers, however, had been out of sorts against Mickleover Sports.

The visitors from Derbyshire received warm applause from the sporting home fans, fully aware that their team had been fortunate.

Darlington 2 Mickleover Sports 1 - photo gallery

Despite taking an early two-goal lead, by full-time Darlington were hanging on to a win that keeps them top of the table.

Points come before performance though, and Gray admitted: “We were below par, but we don’t make excuses. It’s important that even when you’re not firing on all cylinders that you still come away with maximum points.

“We didn’t start the game well and that was the trend throughout.

“You don’t want to take too many negatives out of the game. The lads have put in a real big effort and over the past few weeks and have put themselves into a position where they are top of the table.”

Nathan Cartman and Adam Mitchell made it 2-0 inside 16 minutes.

Quakers had not started well, but ten minutes in Cartman seized on Chris Hunter’s wind-assisted punt, reading the flight of the ball better than centre-back Jack Broadhead, before lobbing goalkeeper Tom Turner for his ninth goal of the season.

Mitchell drilled home from 25 yards following a Phil Turnbull pass. It had been a Mickleover’s throw deep in their half, but Darlington quickly won possession to make it 2-0 and having put five past the same opponents a fortnight ago already Quakers looked home and hosed.

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Had Cartman not been off target with another lob then surely they would’ve been in for another goal fest “We were 2-0 up and had we scored a third it would’ve been game over. At 2-1, we gave them something to go for,” admitted Gray.

A simple ball over the top breached Darlington’s makeshift defence, splitting Hunter and Terry Galbrtaith. Anthony Griffiths-Junior’s pass enticed Peter Jameson to the edge of the penalty area, enabling Simeon Oshoboke to lift the ball over Quakers’ keeper for 2-1, stopping Darlington in their tracks.

They lost momentum, although did have two strong penalty appeals. Stephen Thompson’s cross was cut out by Jake Bennett’s hand, and referee Tony Peart again played on early in the second half despite Leon Scott being floored when close to goal. Quakers are yet to be awarded a penalty this season.

Lee Gaskell was inches away from a spectacular goal, volleying wide, and Cartman saw a close-range header tipped over, but Darlington’s chances were few and there was little of their usual high pressing in evidence.

Though Gray changed to 4-3-1-2, it was the visitors who grew stronger, putting Darlington under increasing pressure.

Jameson saved at close-range from Charlie Dawes, Oshoboke wasted a great chance when one-on-one, and in injury time a low Mickleover cross ricocheted off the legs of Quakers left-back Anthony Callaghan’s and into the grateful Jameson’s hands.

Gray said: “We showed a lot of character in the dying seconds, throwing bodies in front of the ball.

“You can’t be too hard on them, we know ourselves that we were below par throughout the team, but we stuck together and ground out a result.

“We’ve had a tough few weeks with lots of travelling and midweek games. Over the week we’ve picked up two wins, so it’s a fantastic three points.”

During a period when first-team regulars are missing or not fully fit, the quality and resolve of the squad has been underlined by going unbeaten in five matches, winning four.

They now take a break from league action for a fortnight – Mossley visit Heritage Park in the FA Trophy this weekend – and David Dowson will return from a hamstring strain “sooner rather than later,” says Gray.

Adam Nowakowski visits a specialist today and hopes to be given the thumbs up after recovering from a fractured cheekbone.

“There’s two or three players to come back, so that can only be a good thing, we can look forward to them lads coming back,” added Gray.

“It shows you that the lads that we have are the right players and the competition is healthy. We need to keep everyone on their toes and everyone over the course of the season will play his part.”

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