DARLINGTON are 90 minutes from promotion as they take on Bamber Bridge today at Heritage Park, just three days after their thrilling semi-final with Spennymoor Town.

Quakers won the five-goal thriller 3-2 at a packed Heritage Park, the winner scored by David Dowson at the end of an entertaining match between two well-matched teams.

The victory pits Darlington against Lancashire opposition who successfully came through their semi-final 24 hours earlier, beating Northwich Victoria 2-1.

While the team standing in their way of a second promotion in three years have benefitted from an extra day’s rest, Darlington manager Martin Gray does not believe his players will be feeling the effects of Wednesday’s demanding fixture.

“I don’t think it will have taken anything out of my players. It’s going to be the biggest game of the season, the adrenalin gets you through,” said Gray.

“We’ve got momentum and now we’ve got to make sure the players are focused. We started preparing straight after Wednesday and the players trained on Thursday.

“They were in for a warm down and it’s our job as staff, to make sure the players are focused again.

“It was important to get them back in, to get them focused and get their mind set again.”

Much like their game with Spennymoor, Quakers go into the contest having beaten Bamber Bridge twice already this season, both games ending 2-1, while they also took six points off them last season.

At the end of last season however, Brig reached the play-off final, losing to Ramsbottom United who had defeated Darlington at the semi-final stage.

Quakers avoided a repeat of last year’s semi-final frustration as late goals by substitutes Liam Hatch and Dowson secured a dramatic win, and Gray says it owed a lot to character as much as quality of play.

He said: “It was a great game for the neutral, not for the managers, and one thing that stood out was the character of the players, it was magnificent.

“We’ve got great character, great togetherness, and that came through on the night.

“It was a must-win game. We couldn’t go through another semi-final and not win, like we did last year. We finished 14 points ahead of Spennymoor, so to lose would’ve been very hard to take.

“The wind played a big factor all night. We did very well in the first half and Spennymoor did equally as well in the second half. They really challenged us.

“It was game of two halves, Spennymoor certainly edged the second half, but our substitutes made the difference.

“It’s nice when it comes off, but that’s what you’ve got to do, you’ve got to make big decisions. I had a good feeling when I put Hatch on for the corner. To get a goal with his first touch sends out a positive message.

“Dowson stretches teams and his goal was good, a controlled finish.”

Quakers, runners-up to Salford City, finished eight points ahead of third-placed Brig, whose semi was watched by Gray and assistant Brian Atkinson. It went to extra-time, Regan Linney scoring the winner.

“In an ideal world it would always be the top two teams in the play-offs, but it doesn’t always work that way,” said Gray.

“It’s turned out nice that it’s second versus third, but there’s never any guarantee the second-placed team will win.

“I’m pleased I went to the match. It went to extra-time and I stayed until the end. I thought it was going to go to penalties.

“They were play-off finalists last year, well-organised and they’re another well-run club.

“They haven’t finished third for no reason. They’re the third best team in the league, simple as that, we’re the second best, on paper at least.

“They’ve got some good players and they’re a very well-run club. They got the play-off final last year so they’re very capable.”

Alistair Waddecar is Brig's leading scorer with 17 league goals, two of them coming against Darlington, his effort at the Sir Tom Finney Stadium in December a fantastic strike from outside the penalty area.

Gray said: “He’s a good player, very effective. When I watched them in the week he was one of their better players and we’re well aware of him.

“Both teams will know enough about each other, it’s about what we do on the day.”

However, since scoring in Darlington's 2-1 win at Heritage Park in February, Waddecar scored only once more during Brig's strong finish to the season that has seen them win eight of their last ten matches, losing only once. They have scored a lot of goals in the process, 31 in their last ten fixtures.

Darlington are also in good form, victory on Wednesday being their eight in ten games, after which Gray charged onto the pitch in celebration.

“Everything came out for 25 seconds,” he said. “I’m passionate about Darlington, I can’t help the way I am, I want my club to get back to where we were.

“The reason we have such a fantastic club with fantastic support is because we care so much and we’ve got to make sure that stays together.”

In goal for Quakers will be Mark Bell. Peter Jameson is suspended after being sent off in the final minute of the draw at Lancaster City a fortnight ago.

The referee will be Paul Newhouse of Peterlee. He officiated Quakers' 3-0 win over Lancaster City in March.