It took longer than anticipated, but finally Stephen Thompson has reached his half century of goals, though he says he is not in competition with Darlington team-mate Amar Purewal.

The ex-Durham City pair began the campaign with Purewal on 45, one behind last season’s Evo-Stik Northern Premier League player of the year, though few expected Thompson to take so long to find form.

As a result, Purewal reached 50 first, hitting the half century with a hat-trick against Harrogate RA at the beginning of last month and is now on 11 for the season (56 in total).

Thompson reached the landmark with cracking strike last Saturday at Mossley in his 100th game for the club.

“I’d like to catch him up, but I’m not that bothered really,” said Thompson. “We both want to score as many as we can, it doesn’t really matter who has the most as long as we’re winning games.

“I knew I was close to 50 when it was mentioned that Amar had got his 50th.

“I didn’t realise it was my 100th game, so it wasn’t a bad ratio. I don’t really play up front either as I’m left-wing usually, or in the hole behind the strikers.”

Thompson’s trademark is scoring from outside the penalty area and last week’s against Mossley, he says, ranks in his best three goals, the other two also coming away from Heritage Park.

“I didn’t realise how good it was until I watched it back on YouTube,” he said.

“It was one of them that’s a worldy if it goes in and if it doesn’t your team-mates would be screaming at you.

“My best three goals are probably the one last Saturday, the one at Burscough last season, a volley, and the one at Bamber Bridge at the beginning of last season. They were probably my best. I was gutted there was no camera at the Burscough game!”

Playing away to St Neots Town in the FA Trophy today, however, Darlington manager Martin Gray would not mind who gets on the scoresheet as long as they can navigate their way past a tough opponent in the second qualifying round.

St Neots are third in the Southern Premier League, a level above Quakers, and have their division’s leading scorer in 14-goal Drew Roberts.

“We have had them watched and we know they’re a good team, a very good team,” said Gray. “They’ll be the best team we’ve played this season, so we’re going to have to be at our best.”

Gray hoped for an overnight stay in Cambridgeshire ahead of the game, but not all of the squad were able to take yesterday off work, so Quakers set off this morning using Newcastle United’s team bus.

They will be without the suspended Alan White who serves a one-match ban after collecting five cautions, so Liam Hatch is expected to come into the side at centre-back, leaving Gary Brown to continue at right-back.

Brown, however, is to serve a three-game suspension, the FA have confirmed, followed his dismissal during Darlington’s Doodson Sport Cup defeat to Whitby on Wednesday. The ban begins on November 26.

Chris Hunter is one yellow card away from a ban, but his cautions would be wiped out if he is not booked again before the end of this month.

While White being missing is a blow for a defence that has not conceded any of their last seven league and Trophy fixtures, Gray firmly believes that defending starts at the front.

“We stop the source, that’s what we say to our forwards,” he said. “Mossley’s balls to their front players last week weren’t always quality balls because our front players and wide-men had put pressure on the player passing the ball forwards. That’s exactly what we ask for.”