Darlington return to the town on Boxing Day when they take on FC Halifax Town in what is expected to be a sell-out occasion at Blackwell Meadows. In the latest of a series of articles counting down to the day, Deputy Sports Editor Craig Stoddart looks back on one of the few highlights of the club’s nine seasons at The Northern Echo Arena

WHILE many Darlington supporters continue to harbour little affection for The Northern Echo Arena for a variety of reasons – its apparent microclimate and persistent freezing wind among them – also a factor is that they rarely won there when it mattered most.

Across the first five seasons after the stadium opened its doors in 2003 Quakers failed to win any of the nine fixtures at the venue that attracted a gate of 6,000 or more.

When the stakes were high, Quakers crumbled.

One notable occasion, however, that Darlington came good was a play-off semi-final first leg with Rochdale at the end of the 2007-08 season, when Sky Sports were in town to broadcast a 2-1 victory that included a superb Jason Kennedy goal and a last-minute winner.

Dave Penney’s Darlington had limped to the season’s close, squandering a promotion spot in March as a series of injuries contributed to an eight-game winless run and a sixth-place finish, two points adrift of Dale.

Feeling a need to change the routine, Penney called on a high-profile former Oxford team-mate to oversee training for a day before the first leg.

Steve McClaren was then out of work having been sacked as England boss seven months earlier, and defender Ian Miller said: “We’d had no warning before training, so it was a case of ‘hang on a minute that’s the ex-England manager!’ “It certainly took us all by surprise.”

Keith Hill’s visitors, who included ex-Quaker Adam Rundle, were in high spirits. Unbeaten in ten matches, they’d achieved national notoriety with team bonding sing-songs in the changing room prior to kick-off, Oasis’ Wonderwall a particular favourite of Hill’s.

His masterplan needed a rethink, however, when Kennedy gave Quakers a first-half lead with a memorable strike that stands as being one of the best at the Arena. After a ball up the left from Ben Parker, on-loan Kennedy was facing away from goal, but in one delicate touch turned inside a defender and curled the ball from 18 yards beyond goalkeeper Tommy Lee into the far side of the net.

Kennedy can surely rarely have matched the quality of the finish in the eight years since during a career that saw him join Rochdale in 2009, after scoring another belter against them on Sky. He now captains Carlisle United and is again pushing for promotion from League Two.

“It was a fantastic goal,” said Penney at the time of the 29th-minute strike. “He fetched it back inside which opened the whole of the goal up for him and bent it into the top corner. A great finish. He’s got that kind of quality in his locker.

“I’m not sure what Middlesbrough’s plans for him are but he’s been great for us. We’ll find out what level we’re playing at next season and make a decision on the players we’d like to bring in.”

Darlington wasted other first-half scoring opportunities and the first sign things were about to go Rochdale’s way came when the injury jinx struck again just after the hour as Tommy Wright hobbled off.

Then came an equaliser. While Kennedy’s goal was classy, Dale’s was lucky: Chris Dagnall’s shot deflected off Steve Foster and wrong-footed goalkeeper David Stockdale.

More injuries followed. Parker, a left-back on loan from Leeds, pulled up with a hamstring strain, before local hero Alan White departed with a dead leg, leaving a battered and bruised Darlington limping to the whistle.

A free-kick, however, offered a late, late chance of glory. Substitute Neil Wainwright swung it into the penalty area where Ian Miller rose above a clutch of bodies to firmly plant home a header to the delight of most of the 8,057 fans.

Not since beating Hartlepool in the play-offs eight years earlier had supporters enjoyed such a moment, it was what they had been waiting for.

But the high was not to last. A week later, having suffered a 2-1 defeat in the second leg at Spotland, Darlington lost on penalties. Kennedy, of all people, missed the crucial kick and Rochdale went to the play-off final at Wembley, where they lost 3-2 to Stockport County.

“We’ve been near the top most of the season but it’s been a tough season and the injuries has been the major disappointment,” concluded Penney, who named 15-year-old Curtis Main on the bench for the second leg.

Darlington: Stockdale, Wiseman, Foster, White (Miller 87), Purdie, Ravenhill, Joachim, Parker (Ndumbu-Nsungu 79), Kennedy, Cummins, Wright (Wainwright 64). Subs (not used): Kazimierczak (gk), Keltie

Rochdale: Lee, Ramsden, D’Laryea (Holness 66), McArdle, Kennedy, Higginbotham, Perkins, Jones, Rundle (Muirhead 74), Dagnall (Le Fondre 82), Howe. Subs (not used): Thompson, Basham