DESPITE scoring Darlington’s first goal of 2016 in spectacular fashion, Stephen Thompson conceded that his midweek strike could just as easily ended up in the petrol station at one end of Heritage Park.

His goal levelled the match with lowly Whitby Town at 1-1, the game finishing 2-2, making it a disappointing outcome after Quakers’ first home match in 80 days.

But Thompson’s goal was memorable and one of the standout moments of the season: A thunderous 20-yard volley smashed high into the net.

After a Terry Galbraith free-kick had been headed to the edge of the penalty area by Whitby’s Lee Bullock, Thompson’s attempt was executed to perfection and team-mate Phil Turnbull’s reaction said it all as he stood with his hands on his head in surprise.

Not that Thompson has not scored plenty of belting goals in his time, but the player himself admitted: “It could’ve gone in the petrol station!

“One out of ten go in the top corner, the rest of them do go in the petrol station, but hopefully I’ll build on that for the rest of the season and get some more goals.

“I just had to concentrate on hitting it well and I don’t think I could’ve hit the ball any better than that.

“It’s nice to score any goal but when you score a goal like that it’s very enjoyable.”

He will hope to add another to his tally of six goals for the season today when Colwyn Bay visit Heritage Park.

On several occasions against Whitby he threatened another goal, frequently firing in shots at Shane Bland’s goal, including one effort that was narrowly wide from close range.

Thompson admitted: “I thought the pass was for me, but maybe I should’ve left it for Graeme Armstrong, I didn’t really see him. It would’ve been on his right foot, it would’ve been easier for him. It is fine margins.

“We had a few chances and we could’ve killed the game off.

“It is two points dropped, that’s how we’re looking at it, but you look at Salford City and they got beat, so maybe it’s a point gained.

“It’s going to be hard with the number of games we’ve got to play, but we’ll keep grinding them out and we’ll be alright.

“Playing one game in three or four weeks has been a killer. You could see at the end against Whitby, the lads were starting to get a little bit leggy.

“We’ve grafted in training, but it’s not the same as playing games.”

Today, against third-bottom Colwyn Bay, who they defeated 4-2 back in August, Darlington will need to be better than they were during the second period on Tuesday.

“I wouldn’t say we were off the pace, because in the first half we did well,” said Thompson, who has just made his 150th appearance for the club. “The second half was a completely different game, we were poor.

“You could say its rustiness, but that’s maybe a bit of an excuse because we should be playing better than we did in the second half.

“Maybe we got a little bit nervous and started snatching at things when it wasn’t going for us. It’s frustrating for everybody.”

One consequence of having so many matches postponed is that Darlington have dropped to sixth, and even a win today would not be enough to haul themselves above Ashton United and back into the play-off zone.

They have at least three matches in hand on every team above them, and Thompson added: “There’s plenty of games left and we’ve got to stick together and keep grafting.

“We’ve got so many games everybody is going to get used. It’s the squad that is, hopefully, going to get us promoted.”