The wheel turned full circle for Darlington at a miserable Feethams on Saturday.

The last time Rochdale came to Feethams, they were sent packing 4-1 and Quakers dreamed of promotion.

Less than a year later, the boot is on the other foot. Rochdale are aiming at the Second Division, while Quakers can only look on at the play- off positions.

But that's looking on the bright side. Quakers played so badly in the first half it was as if they had continued from where they left off Chesterfield on Boxing Day.

Some fans think that unless the penny drops soon, Quakers will be fighting a battle against relegation.

Carlisle, the bottom club, are set to launch a revival under new ownership, while Quakers have two six-pointers coming up against Plymouth and Exeter in the next two League games. Most fans will be happy to pass 40 points for the season, because that should be enough to avoid relegation. Quakers are currently on 26.

Forget about the sometimes eccentric performance from the match officials. Maybe referee Brian Curson caused the confusion which led to Rochdale's first goal, and got in Adam Reed's way for the second, but that only disguises a largely unimaginative and below par performance from Darlington.

They were caught offside at least a dozen times. Even assuming that a couple of those decisions were wrong, it still suggests that Rochdale, the best away team in the Third Division, knew too much for Quakers.

And one or two defenders forgot one of the unwritten laws of the game for the first goal: play to the whistle.

Manager Gary Bennett looked a forlorn figure after the game, after being forced to shuffle his team around when Paul Heckingbottom (stomach strain) and Neil Aspin failed late fitness tests, which meant that he had to play the right-footed Mark Kilty at left back.

Bennett's options were limited, and now the strength in depth of his squad is going to be tested to the limit over the next few weeks, especially with leaders Chesterfield visiting Feethams in the next home game.

There's a lot of doom and gloom about the place, which will take some shifting, and for some fans, the sooner safety is achieved, the better.

"At kick-off I had to make a couple of changes," said Bennett.

"Paul Heckingbottom failing a fitness test didn't help the cause. He was pencilled in to play and when he pulled out it was a big blow to us because it disrupted the way we wanted to play. With the size of the squad and the number of injuries we had, I was down to the bare bones.

"I would love to have three or four players for every position, but I have to go with what I've got."

Quakers are now in 17th position and Bennett said: "The lads are devastated. When you're near the top of the table, you get the run of the ball and the rub of the green, but when you're near the bottom, you don't.

"We were very unhappy with the two goals.

"For the first, I don't know what the officials were doing. The linesman put his flag up, then put it down. Our lads stopped, and the ref waved play on even though we had possession.

"What would have happened if we had cleared the ball upfield, would he have blown up then? We should have kept playing until we heard the whistle.

"For the second, Adam tried to play the ball out to the right, but the ball was blocked, and that led to them scoring.

"I was disappointed with our first half performance, but we started the second half well. When we got the equaliser, I thought we would go on and win."

Rochdale looked the only winners in the first half, and the warning signs were there when Andy Collett made a one-handed save from a deflected free-kick from Lee Todd early in the game.

With Quakers failing to make any real impact because of the offside trap, Rochdale took the lead after 21 minutes.

The defence hesitated when they saw the linesman raise his flag, but referee Mr Curson allowed play to continue and Tony Ellis whacked the ball past Collett.

Quakers struggled to get back into the game, with only Brian Atkinson and Martin Gray prompting in midfield, and they nearly equalised after 31 minutes when Atkinson threaded the ball through for John Williams, whose lob was off target.

Rochdale, who were a hard-working side without showing much skill, could have gone further ahead before half-time. Collett went full length to deny Todd again, while he also saved a long-range effort from Dave Flitcroft.

Quakers had to improve after an awful first half, and they duly obliged after 55 minutes, when Glenn Naylor flicked on a Craig Liddle free-kick for Richard Hodgson to volley in from ten yards.

For a spell after the goal, Quakers' increased confidence and determination looked as if they would earn a second goal.

But Rochdale tightened up at the back, went forward again and scored the winner after 77 minutes.

Reed couldn't get the ball away, and Rochdale broke down the right, where Wayne Evans drove in a low cross which was deflected past keeper Collett at his near post.

That was the signal for a couple of chants for Bennett to resign, and a derogatory song about the quality of the performance and the fans' feelings.

Make your mind up about that one, but some fans have already decided that they won't be back at Feethams this season.