DARLINGTON make a second attempt to progress in the FA Trophy when they head to Marine this evening for a replay.

The tie was postponed seven days ago after the teams had drawn 2-2 at Heritage Park, Quakers clawing their way back into the tie having been 2-0 behind midway through the first half of a game in which Darlington spurned numerous scoring opportunities.

Martin Gray will hope his team remember to pack their shooting boots this evening against a team, 18th in the division below, who beat Halesowen 4-0 on Saturday.

Gray’s team ordinarily train on Tuesday evenings, and admits a midweek trip to Merseyside is not ideal, but said: “We’ve got get on with it and win because we want to progress in the Trophy.

“The performance against Marine wasn’t too bad, but we missed chances. Had we taken our chances we wouldn’t be going back down there on a Tuesday night.”

Striker Mark Beck was among those guilty of being unable to take chances in the first meeting of the teams during a run of five fixtures with a goal, but he took his tally for the season to nine with a brace in Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Salford City.

He said: “It hadn’t been on my mind that I had not scored for a bit. As long as you help the team, that is the main thing.

“I was thinking about the hat-trick, obviously when you’ve scored twice you want to get the next one, but the chance at the end just got away from me.

“As a forward I try to help the team, but the main thing is to score goals. I’ve had a little break from doing that so it was nice to do that on Saturday.”

Gray is likely to hand a recall to Leon Scott following his effective performance on Saturday as a substitute against Salford City.

Meanwhile, Marine chairman Paul Leary is urging football fans on Merseyside to turn out in force to back their team.

He said: “I appeal to the many Merseyside football fans to come to our replay to give us that extra support in what will be a really tough game.

“Darlington are a big and powerful side who are pushing for promotion to the National League, but if we can play as we did on Saturday then we have every chance to progress.”

The match kicks off at 7.45pm with admission £10 adults and £5 for concessions.

This evening’s winners travel to Stockport County in the first round on Saturday in the first round.

Darlington have previously played two replays in the Trophy. Three years ago they lost on penalties to Buxton having drawn 3-3 despite leading 3-0 at one stage, and in January 1990 they needed two attempts to see off Billingham Synthonia in the first round.

Both were played at Feethams, Central Avenue deemed not appropriate for a fixture which ended 2-2, Les McJannet and David Corner scoring, with Quakers winning the replay 3-1 thanks to a David Cork hat-trick.