Darlington’s match against Prescot Cables today at Heritage Park has been postponed.

The match referee inspected it at 12.45pm and decided due to ice on parts of the playing surface that the game could not be played, becoming the sixth game Quakers have lost to the weather this season.

It’s a blow for Darlington and their supporters, who had been hoping to see their team extend their 15-game unbeaten run and were looking forward to seeing new signing Nathan Cartman in action following his transfer from Harrogate RA.

Instead, Quakers face the potential of losing more ground on league leaders Salford City, who will have played five more games than Darlington by close of play today. Northwich, joint-second with Darlington, will also have played five more matches.

Darlington’s promotion is being threatened by the number of matches they have lost to the weather, while they have also lost momentum gained while putting together a long unbeaten run.

Their first postponement was on November 29, since then they have played fewer games (four) than they have had postponements (six) with rain, snow and ice combining to leave Quakers out of action.

Evo-Stik Division North officials have yet to rearrange most of the matches, but Darlington already know they are going to be playing plenty of midweek matches in order to catch up on their fixtures.

Darlington’s six postponed matches:
November 29: Lancaster City (h)

Darlington’s first postponement came in late November due to a waterlogged pitch at Heritage Park, where drainage is known to be a problem. Landlords Bishop Auckland have also had home games postponed this season, including two in the past week.
Rearranged date: TBA

December 6: New Mills (a)
A week later Quakers were left kicking their heels again, this time when one of their longest trips of the season, to New Mills in Derbyshire, was postponed on the morning of the game due to a frozen pitch.
Rearranged date: TBA

December 28: Farsley (a)
Farsley appealed for supporters to help clear snow from the pitch in the hope of staging Darlington’s trip to West Yorkshire on the Sunday between Christmas and New Year, but the small band of volunteers were unable prevent the game becoming a victim of the weather. The match had already been rearranged once from October 28 due to Farsley’s involvement in the West Riding Cup.
Rearranged date: TBA

January 1: Kendal Town (a)
Darlington were left frustrated and soaked to the skin when, despite the pitch at Kendal Town being more appropriate for water polo, referee Paul Kettlewell decided to start the game. To nobody’s surprise, the New Year’s Day fixture was abandoned after 15 minutes and because the matched had kicked off supporters were not entitled to a refund.
Rearranged date: February 21

January 10: Padiham (a)
Last Saturday’s trip to Lancashire became Darlington’s second successive away game to be called off on the morning of the match, with a waterlogged pitch again being the reason.
Rearranged date: TBA

January 17: Prescot Cables (h)
Today’s game was called off after a second inspection deemed the pitch unplayable. The Heritage Park pitch passed an 8.45 inspection, but Quakers called for volunteers to deal with icy patches. Despite the relatively mild weather, those icy patches remained and the game was called off by the match referee at 12.45pm, by which time Prescot were well on their way to the ground.
Rearranged date: TBA

*Darlington’s match at Northwich Victoria on November 15 was also postponed due to Quakers’ involvement in the FA Trophy. It is another fixture yet to be arranged.