Darlington demolished Spennymoor Town 4-0 with the biggest scoreline there has been between the teams.
Goals by Max Howells, Cedric Main (2) and Jack Maskell did the damage at the Brewery Field, as Quakers secured a much-needed and deserved victory.
Having bemoaned his side’s lack of threat in the final third during Tuesday’s 1-0 defeat against Hereford, manager Steve Watson will have been delighted with today’s ruthless showing.
Both sides threatened to break the deadlock in the first half, but Darlington grew stronger as the opening 45 minutes progressed and took the lead when Howells scored after fine work by Stanton.
His sharp turn in midfield confused a tired-looking Rob Ramshaw, Stanton then advancing before a precise pass with the outside of his foot played in Howells. The diminutive winger went past a defender before smashing the ball high into Brad James’ goal.
While Quakers were good value for their lead, Moors almost equalised in the dying seconds of the first half after a corner, Rory Watson denying giant defender Tom Broadbent with an impressive reflex save at close-range.
Two quickfire Main goals early in the second half put the game out of reach of Spennymoor.
The first was a penalty after Will McGowan corner led to a handball offence, Main making no mistake from the spot.
It was his 13th goal of the season, and he soon had a 14th, this time a flicked header after a cross from the right by McGowan.
Clearly frustrated by his team being well-beaten, immediately after the goal a rattled Ramshaw lashed out at McGowan and should have been sent off by the referee, who was just yards from the flashpoint.
With half an hour still to play, Quakers were coasting towards a second win this season against Graeme Lee’s side, who looked bereft of both confidence and creativity on their way to another humbling defeat.
On five occasions this season they lost by four or more goals, with Darlington’s fourth today coming inside the final ten minutes as Maskell rifled home from 20 yards to further dent Spennymoor’s pride.
Previous meetings have often been largely competitive affairs with little between the teams. Indeed, pre-match Darlington assistant manager Terry Mitchell talked about these games being “tight affairs”, but that was not the case today, certainly not in a one-sided second half.
Now eighth in the table, one point off a play-off position, Quakers aim for another away win when they got to Curzon Ashton on Tuesday.
Spennymoor Town: James, McKeown (Salkeld 62), Broadbent (Sutcliffe 72), Beals, Hill, Dyson (Williams 78), Hancox (Sharples 67), Mondal (Nouble 78), Ramshaw, Heaney, Taylor. Subs not used: Barron, Hughes
Darlington: Watson; Forbes, Lees, Barrow (Hedley 79) Platt (Griffiths 86), Stanton, Howells (Cornish 90), Tweedy, McGowan (sub Allan 81), Maskell, Main. Subs not used: McGrath, Myers-Smith, Rutledge
Attendance: 2,111 (695 Darlington)
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