Darlington will have mixed feelings about this well-earned point at Aggborough as they moved up a place in their fight against relegation.

Quakers were much better than they were on Tuesday night, when manager Gary Bennett blew his top after the game at York.

There was more commitment and more enthusiasm from the players, they improved as the game progressed, and could have won the game as Kidderminster tired.

But there was a nagging feeling as they left Worcestershire that maybe two valuable points had slipped away.

The momentum from Kidderminster's Conference triumph has now run out of steam - now looking like a relegation team themselves - and if Quakers' confidence had been higher, then they would have picked up all three points.

Quakers will be hoping they come across more teams like Kidderminster in the closing weeks of the season, but that is unlikely.

What Quakers have to bear in mind is that Kidderminster, who now have ten goalless draws to their credit this season, have still to play Exeter and York of the relegation teams.

Every point, however, is gratefully accepted by Darlington in their current plight.

Most of the results went in their favour at the bottom of the table, and they are now four points above bottom club Halifax Town - but they still need at least three, possibly four, wins to be safe from their last 12 games, seven of which are at home.

The performance was hard working, without any real flair. Apart from an early mix up between keeper Peter Keen and full back Steve Harper, the defence was reasonably solid, while the midfield and forward line improved as the game went on. At least there were more pluses than minuses, unlike the last two performances.

"The main aim was not to get beat," said Bennett. "Overall, I couldn't have asked for any more from the players.

"There were some pleasing things which came out of the performance. The players worked very hard, they dug in and tackled hard, and the best thing was the way they went about it.

"They made an effort trying to get on the end of things, which I was critical about the other night at York.

"As the game went on, we started to gain control, and we had a few decent shots at goal. Their keeper had more work to do than ours - Peter Keen only had one save to make."

Quakers' second half performance was much better than the first, and Bennett said: "We told the players at half-time that we could win the game.

"We got our game going in the second half, and the confidence started to grow. I thought we finished the stronger, and looking more likely to score."

Quakers now have a free midweek - their last until May - and Bennett will use the free time to build the players up further for the visit of Scunthorpe on Saturday.

"We're four points clear of the bottom club, but I'm not worried about the other teams.

"I'm more concerned about how we do and how we perform. We must get wins under our belt now, sooner, rather than later."

Quakers started shakily. Craig Liddle twice headed away crosses from John Durnin from the right, then Peter Keen and Steve Harper almost gifted Kidderminster the lead after nine minutes.

A poor clearance by Keen went straight to Harper in the left-back position, who quickly returned the ball to the surprised keeper.

However, he was immediately closed down by Stewart Hadley, and Keen's attempted clearance ball rebounded off the Kidderminster forward and rolled just past the post.

Dean Bennett also went close from the edge of the box, while Quakers relied on attempted breaks from Kirk Jackson from passes by Clint Marcelle.

The second half provided more encouragement for the travelling fans, as Quakers made the running.

Mark Ford broke into the box in the inside left position, but his cross just evaded Paul Campbell in the six yard box, then Glenn Naylor nearly caught out Tim Clarke from 35 yards out, but the keeper held on to the ball well.

Naylor then tried to lob the keeper, but just cleared the bar, before the former York keeper touched a powerful effort from Campbell over the top.

Kidderminster had a brief spell of pressure near the end, but Liddle bravely blocked Durnin's shot, while Keen touched another strike from Durnin over.

As the final whistle approached, the ever-willing Jackson was inches away from a Harper cross, and sub Mark Convery - who impressed after his introduction with his enterprising running - put a right foot effort just wide of the goal in the last minute