IF a certain Danish brewery did weeks in the life of a Darlo fan, this last week would be right up there. Thumping away wins, title rival losing their third game in four and, to wrap it up, the announcement regarding the return to the town.

Following the victory at Matlock, attention switched to the game at lowly Stamford on Tuesday. Having closed the gap on Blyth Spartans following their surprise defeat at home to Halesowen, the game against The Daniels was a must-win to turn the screws further on our North East title rivals.

As most Darlo fans will appreciate, whenever things seem to be going right, something usually comes along to ruin it. On Tuesday, an accident on the A1 somewhere north of Stamford threatened to derail our promotion charge. With a number of the players making their own way to the game and subsequently stuck in the tailbacks, we weren’t in any state to kick off at the scheduled 7.45pm.

Despite the chaos and, when the game finally kicked off, some sustained pressure from a clearly buoyed home side, our extra quality and physicality took its toll and in the end, we ran out comfortable winners. Notable in the performance was Terry Galbraith, both for his spectacular volleyed goal but also for his involvement in two of the other goals. Galbraith’s form in recent weeks following the switch to 4-3-3 has been spectacular.

Another big positive from Tuesday’s game was Adam Nowakowski. A victim of both a bad injury and the amazing resurgence of Leon Scott, Nowakowski has been a patient and loyal squad member, seeing very little game time. Despite that, his performance at Stamford considering his circumstances was excellent. Hopefully, his performance will have given Martin Gray some food for thought given the need to rotate the squad to maintain fitness.

With victory secured, we’ve now moved to four points behind Blyth with three games in hand and a better goal difference. It’s a remarkable turnaround having trailed Blyth all season and looking on thinking they would never let us back into the title race.

As if things weren’t good enough on the pitch, this morning brought the news that all have been waiting for with the announcement that the club have come to an agreement with Darlington Rugby Club to move to Blackwell Meadows for the start of next season.

It’s hard to underestimate the impact this will have on the club. Back in the town, the possibilities are endless. Reengaging former fans and sponsors, it is the sort of boost that will hopefully allow the club to regain its place higher up the football pyramid.

With the league title firmly within the realms of possibility leading to promotion to the National League North and the return to Darlington, this really is a fantastic time to be a Darlo fan.

Of course, there can still be twists and turns in the title battle. As easily as Blyth have lost three of their last four games, we too could let the advantage slip and hand back the momentum. With that in mind, every game is like a cup final, starting with Rushall Olympic on Saturday.

With the club almost back on its own feet again, there’s an irony that the Darlo captain from our darkest days will be in opposition. Kris Taylor’s loyalty and leadership during the hellish early months of 2012 must not be forgotten. Hopefully, he will receive a very warm welcome from the fans before being sent back down to the West Midlands pointless.