Darlington fans were left deflated and demoralised by a dismal defeat today.
A fifth loss in their last seven home games damaged play-off hopes, and leaves Darlington vulnerable to being leapfrogged next week.
They are now seventh and can be overtaken by Merthyr and Buxton, who each play their respective game in hand on Tuesday.
Next Saturday, Quakers go to Telford - who retain an outside chance of a top-seven finish – when they will need to play a lot better than they did today, against a Marine side who playing their fourth game in nine days.
Yet it was Steve Watson’s side who were flagging. They were in a strong position after taking an early 1-0 lead, but physically superior Marine fought back to deservedly take three points that keep alive their own ambition of finishing in the play-offs.
Darlington won a corner inside the first few seconds, and Jonah Lowes then had a close-range blast kept out by goalkeeper Fraser Barnsley’s foot as the hosts started strongly, before Scott Barrow scored direct from a free-kick.
Taken in the 13th minute and awarded a foul on Jack Maskell 25 yards from goal, Barrow curled the ball around the Marine wall and into the bottom corner of the goal.
But Darlington went downhill thereafter, offering little in attack while they were bullied in defence by striker Offrande Zanzala.
Marine soon levelled after a free-kick of their own, conceded by Tom Tweedy. Launched into the heart of Quakers’ penalty area, the ball was poked home by George Newell.
Darlington’s promising opening to the fixture had been eradicated by Marine, and the home side proceeded to lose possession with a string of long balls either going out of play or dealt with comfortably by the opposition.
A strong start turned into a scrappy performance and what had been a buoyant atmosphere was flattened, especially when the Merseyside club went 2-1 in front.
At half-time a corner was not cleared, and the tricky Finlay Sinclair-Smith received possession, curling a fine effort high into the net.
Quakers sent on Paddy McLaughlin at half-time to get the team passing, and he began one attack on halfway which ended with a Tom Platt volley being deflected wide.
Encouragement for Darlington. But it did not last and they struggled to find any rhythm.
It was almost 3-1, when Sinclair-Smith low shot saved by Peter Jameson and man of the match Lowes intercepted the follow-up.
Marine were largely content to kill the tempo and flow of the game, while Darlington fans were becoming frustrated.
Some had seen enough with 15 minutes to go and left the ground, when Marine made it 3-1.
The bustling Zanzala barging beyond Ben Hedley and Elliot Forbes before Barrow attempted to make a tackle, but poked the ball past his own goalkeeper Jameson.
Quakers had hope in the 83rd minute when, Cedric Main scored his 20th league goal of the season, a header, from a Tweedy cross, but it proved to be nothing more than a consolation.
Darlington (3-5-2): Jameson; Forbes, Lees (Hedley 61), Barrow; Allan (McLaughlin 46), Lowes, Platt (Rutledge 74), McGowan (Stanton 84), Tweedy; Maskell, Main. Subs not used: Mason, Griffiths, Fitzhugh
Marine (4-4-2): Barnsley; Anson, Drysdale, Wardle, Ashton; Sinclair-Smith, McDonald, Whelan, Hazlehurst (Leuluai 87); Newell (Fielding 84), Zanzala. Subs not used: McIntyre, Bell, Huby, Abbey, Potter
Referee: Jacob Viera
Attendance: 1,560
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