TWO years ago, Darlington and Spennymoor played out a memorable play-off semi-final that eventually resulted in Quakers winning promotion to National League North. By the time next May rolls around, there is every chance of the two clubs finding themselves in a similar position as they look to climb into the Conference.

With almost a month of the season gone, the North-East rivals find themselves ensconced in the top six, harbouring realistic promotion prospects. Today’s derby draw means they have still only suffered one defeat apiece this season, and on the evidence of their entertaining encounter at Blackwell Meadows, they boast sufficient quality to sustain their form through the rest of the campaign.

Spennymoor will feel they should have taken all three points after leading for more than half-an-hour courtesy of David Foley’s first-half opener, especially as they forced Darlington goalkeeper Adam Bartlett to make three good saves. Darlington will feel aggrieved that their second-half revival, which featured a 58th-minute goal from Gary Brown, only secured a point, and point to a potential penalty incident involving David Ferguson as a key moment in the game.

Ultimately, though, a draw was probably a fair result, enabling both clubs to reflect on a solid start that has established a platform for the rest of the season.

Darlington have the loftier ambitions for the remainder of the campaign, partly because of their heritage as a Football League club and partly because they would have made the play-offs last season had it not been for administrative issues.

“It would have been easy to have had a hangover from that,” said manager Martin Gray. “So it’s credit to the lads that they’ve started the season so well. There’s 11 games in the first six weeks, and that would cause a problem to teams at any level, so the fact they’ve been so consistent is great.

“I don’t think anyone is going to run away with this league this year – you’ve seen from the results so far that it’s even more competitive than it was last season. If you’re nit-picking, you might say we should have picked up a few more points, but we’ve been to Salford and York and taken four points from teams I’m sure will be in the top six come the end of the season.”

Spennymoor would have kicked off the season with a little more trepidation following May’s elevation to their loftiest-ever position, but Jason Ainsley’s side have already proved more than a match for some seasoned opposition.

Today’s point followed hot on the heels of Saturday’s 1-1 draw with promotion favourites Salford, and provided further proof of Moors’ continued momentum from last term’s heroics.

“I’m proud of the lads,” said Ainsley. “I remember speaking to someone when I was shopping before the start of the season, and them saying, ‘I’m going to come and watch you Jase’. I said, ‘Well you’d better be quick – I might be out of a job at the end of August’.

“We couldn’t have asked for a tougher start, but that first win against Stockport was massive because it showed the players we had nothing to fear at this level.

“We’ve come to Darlington today, in front of more than 2,000 fans, and we’re going away disappointed not to have won, just like we were disappointed not to have beaten Salford at the weekend, and they’re full-time. That just shows how far we’ve come as a club.”

Today’s opponents only met for the first time in 2012, but in the last five years, their journey up the footballing pyramid has been intertwined. Spennymoor’s starting line-up yesterday featured four former Darlington players, the most notable of which was Jamie Chandler, who was Man of the Match at Wembley as Quakers lifted the FA Trophy in 2011.

Chandler is 28 now, but the midfielder has lost none of his poise or assurance as he has slipped down the leagues.

He was Spennymoor’s midfield fulcrum as they shaded the first half, with his neat short passing establishing a platform from which the visitors were able to launch their attacks.

Moors went close to an early opener as Glen Taylor nodded Ryan Hall’s driven cross wide of the target, and while Darlington threatened themselves as Mark Beck forced Daniel Lowson into a decent save with a close-range header from Josh Gillies’ centre, the visitors broke the deadlock midway through the first half.

Another slick passing move ended with Foley finding himself in space in the left-hand side of the area, and with Darlington’s defenders slow to close him down, the midfielder lashed a rising left-footed drive into the roof of the net.

To their credit, Quakers rallied after falling behind, but Beck was unable to force the ball home after Stephen Thompson’s trickery threatened to unlock the Spennymoor defence, with Terry Galbraith lashing the resultant loose ball wide of the target.

Bartlett had to be alert in the Darlington goal to save from Foley on the stroke of half-time, but the hosts’ superior physicality began to tell in the second half as Spennymoor’s defenders found themselves being pushed towards their own box.

Gillies would have scored direct from a corner had Christopher Chantler not been alert enough to head the ball off the line, and Darlington levelled shortly before the hour mark when Lowson made a mess of dealing with Bartlett’s long punt, enabling Brown to head the ball into an empty net.

Ferguson was appealing for a penalty when Kallum Griffiths appeared to pull him back, and Thompson headed wide when well placed in the area. Moors also had late chances though, with Bartley saving from Foley and Jake Orrell, and Rob Ramshaw drilling a last-minute half-volley narrowly wide.