FOR the best part of an hour before kick-off, the numbers got greater and the roar louder from behind the goal, where they crammed into the Tin Shed like they used to at Feethams all of those years ago.

Not since 2003 in the fourth tier of the English game – the last game at Feethams - has the noise under that bit of historic terracing been quite like it was for this FA Cup replay with League Two’s Walsall.

That was before a ball had even been kicked, such was the anticipation before Darlington’s sole first round tie on home soil since 2010 and a record crowd of 3,006 walked through the gates in hope rather than expectation.

Having earned this return fixture with the Saddlers in front of the BT Sport cameras, it was a night perceived to be something of a celebration for a proud County Durham town whose club was only saved by the fans in 2012.

By the end of the game, regardless of a narrow defeat inflicted by Caolan Lavery’s second half header, that was exactly what it was – a celebration.

Blackwell Meadows provided a venue for the Quakers in the middle of 2016-17 and how it felt like home last night, after years bouncing around the Arena before having to travel over to Bishop Auckland’s Heritage Park for that Saturday fix.

This morning, with an extra £33,750 in the bank courtesy of the tie being televised even if they missed out on an extra £36,000 from progressing, Darlington will remember this night for a while, and the biggest attendance since those days at the Arena could easily have witnessed a cup shock too.

There were chances at both ends. Darlington had the first when Will Hatfield forced Walsall goalkeeper Liam Roberts into an early save after Jarrett Rivers had caused problems for the visiting full-back Callum Cockerill-Mollet.

The way Rivers danced his way beyond his man in that first half made a mockery of the 42 places separating the sides. How Darlington will be reflecting on that excellent first half with frustration now, because they deserved to have edged in front for the endeavour they showed.

The Darlington faithful, with flags draped from the balcony on the clubhouse opposite Marco Gabbiadini and the BT commentary team, were made to wait and wait for a goal that much of their play deserved. It never arrived.

But the support from the stands reflected how much this night meant to the club, enjoying a welcome break from another 90 minutes of National League North football where Saturday’s defeat to Brackley has left them five points shy of a play-off spot.

After three promotion seasons in four at the start of their renaissance, current boss Alun Armstrong is trying to find a way to guide them out of a league they have settled in in recent seasons.

With the sort of support from the stands that was evident at Blackwell Meadows, it was much easier to picture a day when that resurgence will return in the form of promotion because their ability was on show to suggest with continuity they are capable of achieving that.

It was a performance that didn’t reflect a team sitting mid-table in the sixth rung of the football pyramid, with Quakers raising gasps from the crowd time and time again as Rivers, Stephen Thompson, Will Hatfield and Michael Liddle, in particular, found space in the final third.

Armstrong enjoyed his own cup heroics as a player, having spearheaded Stockport famously to the semi-final of the League Cup where they lost narrowly to Middlesbrough over two legs in 1997 with Fabrizio Ravanelli, Emerson and Juninho in tow.

He also scored in two games against Inter Milan for Ipswich, but how he would have loved one of the players under his watch as Darlington manager to have created their own bit of history.

Despite plenty of huffing and puffing, and encouragement from occasional second half attacks, it was not to be on this occasion as Northern Ireland Under-21 striker Lavery was allowed to climb unchallenged in the area to head in the winner from Rory Holden’s corner with 22 minutes remaining.

Not that that silenced the Tin Shed, on a night when celebration off the pitch couldn’t be replicated on it as a determined Darlington just didn’t have enough to move through to round two.