Darlington went back to the top of the table with their fifth successive away win and Jack Lambert was again the star of the show.

He scored his second hat-trick of the season as Quakers beat Gloucester City 6-2.

The emphatic one-sided win put Darlington two points clear of Brackley, whose game at Scarborough was postponed .

The 100 or so travelling Darlington fans, who boosted the crowd to a below average 622 when England's World Cup quarter-final was an attraction, must have been delighted that they had made the arduous trip on a bitterly cold day.

“That was a really, really great positive performance,” said manager Alun Armstrong. “Some of our counter-attacking play was fantastic. The team that’s out there at the moment are keeping the shirts, then we’ve got the quality of Mark Beck coming on in the second half.

“It’s nice to get a double in the league over Gloucester. It certainly helped coming down overnight – I know some fans have a gripe over that, but these lads need recovery time after playing in midweek. Our physio can spend more time with them in the hotel, and then they put in a performance worthy of an overnight stay.

“There is a different mentality in the dressing room now, compared to our teams of the past. They don’t let the downs affect them too much as they’ve shown so many times this season. “ Quakers were in the right mood right from the start, and the pattern of the game was set when Ben Liddle hit the top of the crossbar from an acute angle after Gloucester’s late replacement keeper, Elliott Jones, handled outside his area.

Their pressure on the Gloucester back four paid off on 21 minutes, when Junior Tiensia dallied inside his own penalty area and was dispossessed by the advancing Lambert, who then beat Jones at his near post.

Lambert nearly got a second when he dispossessed Jack James on the other side of the box, and curled his right foot shot just wide.

After Michael Gyasi went close for Gloucester, Quakers took a firm grip on the game just before half time and arguably it was on-loan Dodds who scored the goal of the match with a 25 yarder.

He broke up a Gloucester move just inside their half, raced to the edge of the box, and beat the keeper with a right foot shot that sailed over his head into the net.

Armstrong said: “Doddsy has got a goal like that in his locker, and it came at just the right time as it knocked Gloucester for six when they were trying to get back into the game."

The hard-working Jacob Hazel struck a dipping left foot shot wide, then Gyasi broke through at the other end in a rare home attack, but Taylor saved at his feet.

Quakers’ dominance was rewarded with a third goal on the hour. Hazel won a corner on the left, and Lambert cleverly curled the ball over everybody into the far corner.

Gloucester quickly pulled a goal back when Gyasi curled the ball into the top corner from just inside the area, but Quakers soon regained control and Kaine Felix wasted a good chance from an Adriano Moke pass ten yards out.

But the fourth came along on 67 minutes when Dodds made another great run forward and slipped the ball through for Lambert to sidestep the keeper and complete his second hat-trick of the season.

Lambert's treble was his third in 2022 following one in a 6-1 win at Farsley in January.

He has now scored 12 goals this season, and has probably gained even more attention courtesy of his 70-yarder that hit the bar at Hereford last month.

“Jack is flying at the moment. His numbers of goals and assists are scary," said Armstrong.

“The transfer window is coming up, but we don’t need to sell Jack. Financially we’re fine. The kid is enjoying himself here, I want him to stay, I want to give him a new contract and the club would like to give him another contract.

“We’re in discussions with him, but we’ve got to be realistic as well, there will be clubs sniffing about. If we can keep Jack until the end of the season in the form he’s on, then we’ve got every chance. Everything Jack touches turns to gold at the moment, and long may that continue."

There was no stopping Quakers now. Top scorer Mark Beck came on after 77 minutes, and with his first touch he made it 5-1 with a looping header from a free kick. Five minutes later it was 6-1, when Lambert set up Liddle to fire left-footed into the bottom corner from the edge of the area.

Gloucester pulled one back from the penalty spot when Dodds was penalised and Matt McClure beat Taylor from the spot, but that didn’t detract from another superb away display by Darlington.

“We’re at the halfway point of the season now, but there’s still a long way to go," added Armstrong. "We’re in a really good position, and I’d much rather have the points on the board and make the others try and catch up, especially with the bad weather around.

"If somebody at the start of the season had told me that we’d been sitting here going into Christmas at the top of the league, then I wouldn’t have believed them. I’m delighted with the lads, and I’m delighted for the fans and the club.”

Darlington: Dodds, Sukar, Lawlor, Hedley, Moke (Griffiths 70), Purver, Liddle, Lambert, Felix, Hazel (Beck 77). Subs not used: Rose, Martin, Rivers