Darlington 1 Padiham 0

HAVING gone 1-0 up with only six minutes gone against the bottom-of-the-table team Padiham, it was reasonable to expect another goal glut from a rejuvenated Darlington side.

After all, in midweek they put seven past Harrogate RA.

Playing against a team that had conceded more than anyone in the division before Saturday, perhaps this would be the day Darlington would finally go one better than seven, which they’ve managed seven times since the beginning of 2012-13.

Darlington supporters know better than to expect things to go so smoothly, however, so nobody had an abacus to hand when Amar Purewal netted an early penalty, awarded after he’d been pushed by Craig Haynes.

Purewal’s 51st goal for the club was only his second spot-kick, given the opportunity as usual penalty taker Terry Galbraith is sidelined with a broken toe.

Despite the lead and playing against ten men for half the game, as Padiham had Jason Pena sent off just before half-time, Quakers proceeded to make life difficult for themselves.

Chance after chance was missed, Graeme Armstrong and Purewal both guilty, Stephen Thompson poked wide when one-on-one and Adam Mitchell scuffed one in the general direction of the keeper, and thus it remained needlessly tight and tense, especially in the latter stages of the second half.

“We gave them the opportunity to stay in the game by not taking our own chances,” admitted manager Martin Gray, was disappointed.

“Thompson had a one-on-one in the first half, but I can’t remember all of the chances because there were that many.

“Padiham had to something to hang for at 1-0, so it wasn’t as comfortable as it should’ve been.

“But I’m not going to have a go at the players, we’ll put it down to a one-off. The performance wasn’t what we’re about, the players know that. The decision-making was poor throughout the game, but players will occasionally have games where they’re not as good as they have been.

“Even though we’ve had a one-off performance, we’ve still picked up maximum points.”

Which is all that really matters. Quakers recently endured a winless run and dropped to ninth, so they’ll certainly not moan about not scoring enough goals during a victory having risen to second in the table.

Gray added: “Another three points was the important thing today. We know we missed chances, but we’ve now picked up nine points out of nine and scored ten goals in three games.

“Yes I know we missed chances, but it was so important to keep the momentum going and take three points.

“It’s always difficult when you’ve had a big performance in the game before, it can sometimes be a case of after the Lord’s Mayor Show. We avoided that and got another win.”

It just wasn’t Darlington’s day in front of goal.

Armstrong, the division’s joint-top scorer with seven goals, missed almost enough scoring opportunities to double his tally; numerous headers were off target of shots weakly aimed at the keeper.

Liam Hatch was unlucky. Sent on to replace Thompson, who was substituted due to a hamstring problem, after meeting Ian Watson’s pinpoint cross Hatch had a powerful header beaten away by keeper Marcus Burgess.

Later on, Padiham defender Craig Hynes typified the visitors’ battling spirit to fling himself in the way of a Hatch volley.

Padiham’s Brett Omerod, the former Southampton and Blackpool striker, would no doubt have lapped up the service Darlington’s forwards received.

He turns 38 this month but he was sharp, looked lean, created space for himself and had some nice touches.

“He’s got good quality and his attitude is great,” said Gray. “He’s 37, he’d played at the top level and ha come here today and worked as hard as anybody on the pitch.

“I spoke to him before the game and he was saying he just wants to enjoy his football. But I don’t he’ll have enjoyed the referee’s performance.”

The officials irked Omerod when he had the ball in the net, but it was ruled out for offside, much to the striker’s consternation. He was booked for his protestations, as was midfielder Martin Parkes, who would later pay the price.

A second booking in injury time meant Padiham ended the game with nine men, the second team to do so at Heritage Park this season after Kendal.

Not until Parkes’ dismissal could Darlington feel comfortable, which is testament to Padiham’s resilience, and Gray had some sympathy for the visitors, saying: “I think the referee had a tough game and I’m pleased I’m not their manager today.”

Gray revealed after the game that former York City midfielder Adam Reed has left Quakers. The manager said: “I can’t get him in the team at the moment and it would be wrong to keep him at the club.”

MATCH RATINGS

Goal: Purewal pen (6, 1-0)

Bookings: Omerod (39, dissent), Purewal (87, foul), A Mitchell (90, dissent)

Sending-off: Pena (43, second bookable offence), Parkes (90, second bookable offence)

Referee: Dean Hulme

Attendance: 932

Entertainment: PP

Darlington (4-4-2): Jameson 7; Brown 5 (Cocks 65, 7), White 7, Hunter 7, Watson 7; A Mitchell 6, Scott 5 (Robinson 56, 6), PORTAS 8, Thompson 5 (Hatch 45, 6); Armstrong 5, Purewal 7. Subs (not used): Bell (gk), Pennal

Padiham (4-4-2): Burgess 6; Ross 6, Haynes 6, Pena 4, Gregory; Hart 6 (Wilkes 77), Young 6, Parkes 6, Bromley 6 (Willoughby 87); Balazs 6, OMEROD 7. Subs (not used): Walsh, Davis, Craig

Man of the match

TOM Portas – Always willing to get on the ball in midfield and kept Quakers ticking