Darlington lost more ground in the promotion race and are now six points off leaders Salford City after suffering their sixth postponement of the season.

Saturday’s game against Prescot Cables at Heritage Park was called off at 12.45pm when inspected by the match referee, who said the fixture could not be played due to ice on parts of the playing surface.

It was 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 the striker’s transfer from Harrogate RA.

Cartman still managed to get on the scoresheet on Saturday, however, scoring a hat-trick in a hastily arranged friendly at Billingham Synthonia, whose match at Penrith had been postponed.

Stephen Thompson also netted in a 4-1 win against the Northern League opposition.

“It was good of them to accommodate us at short notice,” said Quakers assistant manager Brian Atkinson.

“We hadn’t played for a couple of weeks, so it was good for the lads to get a game in. It was more of a practice match really, working on shape.”

Each player in the squad was given a run out apart from Amar Purewal, who continues to be sidelined with a calf problem.

While Darlington were playing a friendly, Salford beat Farsley 3-2 to while Northwich and now second, with Quakers third, after beating Padiham 5-1.

Martin Gray’s men have five matches in hand on both teams ahead of them and travel to Salford on January 31.

This weekend Quakers are scheduled to play at Ossett Albion for what would only be their fifth match since November 29 when the club’s run of postponements began.

Six matches have been lost to the weather and only one of them as yet has been rearranged by Evo-Stik League officials, the trip to Kendal, which shall be played on February 21.

There should not be a problem fitting in the matches as Darlington have plenty of free midweeks available, but are going to frequently be playing two games per week, with pressure on to close the gap on the leaders.