MK Dons 1 - 0 Darlington

CLIVE Platt's second half strike was enough to put the final nail in Darlington's season at the National Hockey Stadium.

However, Dave Penney's side were unfortunate not to come away from their first ever visit to Milton Keynes with at least a point after squandering several second half chances.

The defeat extends Darlington's run to five games without a win, ending any faint hopes of a top seven finish.

After Platt had opened the scoring in the 57th minute, heading home Leon Knight's cross, Quakers should have levelled through Gregg Blundell when his close range effort was blocked by Ademola Bankole.

And the MK Dons keeper came to his sides rescue again in the 82nd minute when he saved from Julian Joachim's driven shot.

Although not mathematically impossible, Darlington's hopes of a play-off place are now all but over with three games remaining.