A POINT, an improvement and a penalty not given summed up Darlington’s day at Chorley, when they made amends for the previous week’s calamity.

Quakers had endured arguably their lowest point of the season when shipping three goals and losing at home to a Curzon Ashton team in the lower half of the table.

On the back of a poor run, it was a performance that brought into sharp focus the step up in quality Quakers are dealing with this season, and put a question mark against their play-off credentials.

They are now down to seventh, having won only two of their past 12 league matches, so a top-five finish requires a turnaround.

Saturday’s signs were promising, however. Work in training, personnel changes and tactical tweaks bore fruit, bringing a welcome major improvement at the both ends of the pitch against a play-off rival.

Chorley goalkeeper Ritchie Branagan was man of the match after making a string of saves, though he was fortunate not to concede a penalty when he poleaxed Stephen Thompson.

Magpies manager Matt Jansen was grateful for his No. 1’s performance, saying: “His one-on-one display today, his shot-stopping was fantastic and at times kept them at bay.”

Darlington had few problems creating scoring opportunities against the division’s meanest defence, but it was wayward finishing, reckoned Martin Gray, which cost Quakers, though he was otherwise justifiably pleased.

He made some big calls. He switched to 4-3-3 and, with most goals Quakers have conceded coming down their left-wing, he did not start left-back Terry Galbraith for the first time since September 2015, while there was no place for winger Josh Gillies either.

“We put a lot of work in on the changes. We didn’t just rock up here and hope for the best,” said Gray, who used midfielder Josh Falkingham at right-back as both Chris Hunter and Liam Marrs are injured.

“When the work pays off like that, it’s rewarding and that’s what your job is about. It’s about making big decisions, formation changes and sometimes having to leave out key players. I did that today and the ones I have played did a great job.

“I’m delighted with the performance but disappointed with the result.

“The lads stuck to their task, they did their roles and the experience in the team showed.

“We made lots of changes and we changed the formation and I thought the work that we did during the week paid off.”

Nathan Cartman was one of the changes, recalled after scoring as a substitute last week, and he almost netted after just 65 seconds, his shot going over.

It set the tone for an open contest with chances at both ends.

Dave Syers, also recalled, volleyed over before Quakers took the lead on 16 minutes from a corner taken by Thompson.

Won when his shot was deflected wide, Syers played it back across goal and Kevin Burgess forced the ball home.

It was soon almost 2-0 from another corner, Syers’ powerful header booted off the line by a Chorley defender, and Cartman saw an attempted chip go horribly wrong.

“It’s a game we should’ve won,” added Gray. “We created chances throughout the game, two or three great ones in the first half, and on another day we could’ve scored four or five so I’m disappointed not to win the game.

“I think Chorley had one real chance, one shot on target, and he took it well. But we defended well as a team and the formation we played worked well.”

The equaliser came on 34 minutes, Quakers conceding from an attack down their left.

A series of passes led to a cross by Chorley’s Andy Teague that was headed down by Jack Sampson for Marcus Carver to blast home from 18 yards, a powerful finish that Ed Wilczynski had no chance of stopping.

The second half saw Darlington create a glut of chances, but they were unable to take any of them.

Throughout the afternoon there were fewer long passes to Mark Beck than of late, but he was still central to Quakers’ play, winning high balls and feeding Thompson and Cartman, the latter seeing a low shot pushed wide by Branagan, who then needed two attempts to gather a Thompson free-kick.

With Darlington’s defence more compact and organised, Chorley’s next sight of goal did not come until the 69th minute, Sampson flashing a shot wide of the far post, but Quakers continued to ask questions and should have had a penalty when Branagan clattered into Thompson.

The forward chased a Gary Brown ball forward and was impeded by the keeper, yet referee Stephen Copeland said no foul, a decision which bewildered Darlington.

“It’s a massive mistake,” said Gray. “The referee said to me that the new laws of the game mean that if he gets a shot off and is then fouled then it’s not a penalty.

“For me it’s a nailed on penalty and a sending off for the keeper as last man. He’s come out and influenced Tommo, he hasn’t had a clean strike and he fouls him, so it’s a penalty.”

A weak Beck header, saved easily by Branagan, was an example of Darlington’s wastefulness, while the final opportunity saw Thompson denied at close-range by that man again Branagan.