TOMMY WRIGHT’S tenure had started inauspiciously, so salvaging a point in dramatic fashion may give Quakers the belief and boost that they need to haul themselves out of their slump.

A third defeat in as many games appeared imminent when they trailed 3-1 at Kidderminster Harriers, the Worcestershire club coasting for periods of a second half in which they spurned chances to extend their advantage.

Yet a combination of Darlington’s desire, a change in formation and Kidderminster crumbling contrived to turn defeat into a dramatic draw that featured six goals and one red card.

It could mark the turning point for Quakers, just as a match at Aggborough did for Wright in his playing days.

In the closing stages of 2010-11 he came in from the cold – having found himself out of the side in the previous ten league matches – and three weeks later started at Wembley in the FA Trophy final.

A lot can change quickly in football and Wright wishes to initiate alterations in order to bring about improvement, Saturday seeing the manager try a 3-5-2 formation and hand a debut to centre-back Josh Heaton.

He said: “We spoke about that to the lads before the game, about not getting beat, it was part of trying three at the back, trying to be a little more solid and being hard to break down.

“With Nathan Cartman and Harvey Saunders up front we knew they’d be lively and run the channels and get us up the pitch.

“To find ourselves 3-1 down when we’re aiming to be solid was a little bit of a concern, but the lads stuck in there.

“It was important for myself and Whitey and the group, and when you get a point like that it galvanises the dressing room and them boys definitely needed a lift.”

The addition of more signings should also energise the squad too, with 6ft 5in Heaton likely to be followed this week by further new faces before Saturday’s visit of Tamworth to Blackwell Meadows.

By then Wright and Alan White, the assistant manager, will have had another two training sessions, opportunities to address shortcomings that have seen Darlington concede three goals in each of their last three games.

They are now 13th and remain six points above the relegation zone, four points off the play-offs.

While Quakers’ comeback generated a sense of excitement, Wright and White were far from satisfied with their team.

Wright added: “We played the right football in certain periods of the game but still found ourselves 3-1 down, so that is really frustrating, especially for Whitey.

“We are trying to pride ourselves on being solid at the back. This week in training it’s what we’ve focused on, so to concede three goals again wasn’t ideal.”

After what had been a solid start, Stephen Thompson getting forward well in his right wing-back role, Harriers went 1-0 ahead on 15 minutes, an unmarked Andre Brown ghosting in to get on the end of a right-wing cross.

It was 2-0 on 38 minutes, a series of Kidderminster passes culminating in James McQuilkin executing a deft finish, and it would quickly have become 3-0 had Dom Collins not managed a last-ditch tackle to stop Joe Ironside.

“For the first 15 minutes we looked in control, we looked calm and comfortable. That first goal rocked us a little bit,” said Wright.

For all their defensive woes, Darlington did not deserve to be two goals down and the scoreline became a greater reflection of play when they pulled one back just before half-time.

The move began with Heaton making a well-timed tackle inside his own penalty area, Quakers attacking quickly, Cartman playing in Saunders who delivered a low ball into the box where Harriers’ flat-footed James Pearson inadvertently turned the ball home.

“We felt very hard done by and on the back of limiting them to two chances we probably deserved a little bit of luck and with Harvey’s cross their lad put it into his own net. It gave us a lifeline,” said Wright.

The lifeline lasted until the 54th minute, when Darlington failed to deal with the danger numerous times following an attack up Kidderminster’s left, Elton Ngwatala allowed to turn on the edge of the area and blast beyond Ed Wilczynski, Quakers’ keeper given a chance after Adam Bartlett’s exit.

Kidderminster were 3-1 ahead and it was seemingly game over, and certainly would have been had a flag not been raised when Fraser Horsfall had the ball in the net.

Something had to change for Darlington with the game drifting away, so they switched to something resembling 4-3-3. James Caton, Josh Gillies and Dave Syers were sent on and in the 79th minute they had hope once more when Collins hooked a ball across for Terry Galbraith to forcibly head home.

Darlington were invigorated, Harriers rattled, and within two minutes Tyrone Williams earned the wrath of his manager when he earned a red card for pushing Saunders.

“I’m really disappointed with Tyrone getting sent off – it was needless and he didn’t need to get involved, so it’s something I am not happy with,” admitted Kidderminster manager John Eustace.

Quakers smelt blood, they kept pushing, and at Gillies’ 89th-minute corner fellow sub Syers rose highest to score his fourth goal of the season.

Wright added: “Their third goal was a sucker punch, so I can’t fault the lads for their work ethic and desire for getting back into the game.

“It makes it a lot easier when you can bring on quality off the bench like we could in Josh Gillies, Dave Syers and James Caton. We had attacking intent and knew we had goals there.

“I thought ‘let’s roll the dice and see what happens’. I think if we’d had a late corner we could’ve nicked it because they looked lost every time we went forward.”