Proud and unbowed, the message was clear: Darlo will never die.

It was chanted loud and clear by supporters on Saturday, representing the defiance of a club and its town as football united to celebrate a club that refused to disappear.

Three days after its death was declared before being resuscitated at the 13th hour - when the administrator gave it a stay of execution until the end of the month - in its latest hour of need supporters of clubs from around the country rallied round to look after one of its own.

All of the North-East clubs were represented in a heart-warming act of solidarity that swelled the gate to 5,638. There were queues at the turnstiles over an hour before-kick, which was delayed 15 minutes.

The attendance was almost three times Quakers' average this season of just under 1,900, but there appeared to be many more than the official crowd figure which was even bolstered by a one or two wearing Hartlepool shirts among the otherwise sparsely populated visitors' section.

Fleetwood Town were the opposition, the big-spending promotion-chasers and the bookies' 1-11 favourites to win on Saturday, meaning a home victory would have been a huge upset.

A second Quakers win against-the-odds inside a week was too much to ask.

Fleetwood were worthy winners, their goal just before the break sufficient to claim the points while Darlington only once tested Cod Army keeper, Scott Davies.

But Quakers' opposition, result and performance were less important than usual. As Craig Liddle admitted in his programmes notes, the outcome was almost irrelevant in comparison to the occasion.

He said: "It was always going to be an emotional day for the supporters because they have been through a lot. Myself and the players have too, but for the supporters it's their club and I was speaking to somebody earlier who was saying it had been his life for 60 years.

"I was chuffed to bits with the turn out It was staggering that so many people came to support us in difficult circumstances.

"Right from the moment I arrived at the ground there was a buzz and an excitement and they backed the players and myself right until the end. The players got a standing ovation and rightly so, that was fantastic.

"You don't often get an ovation after a defeat, but that's twice in a row that's happened now and I don't want to get used to that.

"Everyone was hoping for a fairytale result, but I can't fault anyone. They did themselves and the club proud."

In the circumstances, Darlington could be immensely proud. They have not trained as a group for weeks, they've not been getting paid and a number of their talented team-mates, key players such as Sam Russell, Ian Miller, Jamie Chandler and Liam Hatch, have departed.

Their exits would affect any team at this level. As a result, of the 14 players used on Saturday, seven were teenagers including keeper Jordan Pickford who arrived on loan from Sunderland on Friday.

He came into the side as one of three changes from the team that last played - at Barrow a fortnight ago - but there was no Liddle on the team sheet.

The interim manager decided against including himself with Graeme Lee and Kris Taylor at centre-back, preferred to youngster Scott Harrison.

Taylor had another solid outing in a position in which he is only considered to be a stop-gap, while Aaron Brown was arguably the team's best player - a day after performing a dramatic U-turn on his decision to leave.

An early free-kick of his was just too high for Ryan Bowman who was again playing as the lone striker. It's a tough job and, as at Barrow, he did not see enough of the ball as Darlington struggled to make an impact in the final third.

Just when they looked like breaking into the opposition's penalty area, Andy Mangan took the ball off Paul Arnison's toes as he almost collected James Gray's pass.

Neither side really got into their stride before the break, but Fleetwood took the lead not long before half-time.

Danny Rose slammed the ball home after Mangan's shot had rebounded off the post, but Liddle believed the goal should not have stood.

"We're extremely disappointed, how that stood is beyond me. The lad was ten yards offside," said Liddle.

"Graeme Lee tried to intercept a pass to one of their players and got a touch on it. It's not the referee's fault, the linesman had a duty to give it, but he has seen it differently, but we're not happy about it."

Seconds after Rose's strike, Bowman fired in a shot that Davies did well to push away and that was as close to a goal as Darlington got.

Sitting on the lead, Fleetwood were dominant at the start of the second half as their classed show, hardly allowing Darlington a kick.

Gray had to clear a Nathan Pond header off the line, following a corner, and then Pickford saved a header from former York striker Richard Brodie, a player Mark Cooper tried to sign last summer.

Then after Marc Bridge-Wilkinson was disposed in midfield, Seddon struck a low shot that Pickford did well to turn around the post.

Although on the losing side, Pickford's debut was impressive with the save being the high point of the 17-year-old's day as he calmly claimed every cross while clattering into Brodie earned him brownie points.

The striker's reputation at the Arena is not high, primarily because the Tynesider appears to have the same surprisingly low pain threshold as Didier Drogba. Many have not forgotten his role in Brown being incorrectly sent off when he was playing for Crawley at the Arena last season.

Pickford was watched by Sunderland's academy goalkeeping coach Mark Prudhoe, an all-time Darlington hero since his days in the back-to-back title winning side of the early 1990s.

He was not the only player from that era in attendance as Kevan Smith, Andy Toman and Mick Tait were also present, all etched into Darlington folklore.

Liddle belongs there too, but his story continues to be written. Both his dignity and dedication have shone throughout this crisis while supporters can see that he genuinely cares about the club.

Frequently his name was chanted and he responded with a casual thumbs-up, but he admitted to having to keep his emotions in check.

He said: "I've got a young son and a daughter up there who are proud of me, but to be backed in front of them gives you goosebumps and at times I was doing well to hold myself together."

The atmosphere built in the closing stages as Darlington were encouraged to grab an equaliser. The large crowd were desperate for a goal to cheer, if only to distract themselves from the perishing cold wind around the Arena.

With Harrison on as a striker, Darlington gained momentum in the final 20 minutes, though Davies did not have a save to make. Gray and Adam Rundle both optimistically tried their luck from distance, but Quakers have form for losing on the big Arena occasions, so perhaps a late equaliser was always unlikely.

"I thought that might change today," said Liddle.

"I said right at the end when we got a long throw, 'if there's a God up there this will be a goal', but it didn't happen for us.

"My wife and my daughter aren't coming again. That's three times they've come now and three times they've seen us lose. I told her on Thursday that she wasn't coming, but she insisted - she'll not be coming again!"

Fleetwood manager Micky Mellon added: "It was an emotional day, we knew what it was going to be like that.

"We had to stay as professional as possible and get the result.

"Now we've got it, we hope and pray that the people of Darlington have still got a club to support because it's a great footballing area."