Darlington 4 Mossley 0

Darlington moved up to second in the table with a comprehensive win over lowly Mossley, who played most of the game with ten men.

Kyle McGonigle deservedly saw red just before the half hour for foolishly stamping on the grounded Andy Johnson, after which there was only one winner.

The dismissal weighted the game in Darlington’s favour and they built a 2-0 half-time lead, Stephen Thompson making the breakthrough in the 39th minute after an Andy Johnson pass from the byline, and it was 2-0 when Amar Purewal tapped home following good work by Thompson and Johnson.

Mossley featured striker Wayne Welbeck, brother of the Manchester United striker, but they rarely threatened a resilient Darlington rearguard who kept their third clean sheet in six matches.

Welbeck endured a torrid time. He came nowhere close to scoring, some of his touches were woeful and howls of derision greeted one effort at goal which rolled towards a corner flag, leading to chants of "If Welbeck scores we're on the pitch", from the Darlington fans.

The home supporters were cheering two goals inside two minutes which put the seal on victory.

The first was a deft back heel by substitute David Dowson after fine team pay, and then Chris Moore executed a wonderful floated finish.

Goals: Thompson (39, 1-0), Purewal (42, 2-0), Dowson (70, 3-0), Moore (71, 4-0)

Bookings: Marley (29, foul); Johnson (45, foul), Scott (53, foul); McDonnell (59, obstruction), Bennett (59, dissent); White (82, dissent)

Sending off: McGonigle (27, violent conduct)

Referee: John Matthews

Attendance: 1,133

Darlington (4-4-2): Bell; Hunter, White, Scott, Weldon (Hall 13); Moore, Davis, Galbraith (P Robinson 63), Thompson; A Johnson (Dowson 61), Purewal. Subs (not used): Turns (gk), Edwards

Mossley (4-4-2): Saunders, Halligan, Drummond, Marley (Haslam 41, McDonnell 46), Anderson, McGonigle, Hopper, Bennett, Welbeck, Keogh, Pratt. Subs (not used): Broadbent, Carroll, Horne