Darlington 4 Prescot Cables 2

Adam Mitchell fired a hat-trick as Darlington strolled to a win more comfortable than the scoreline suggests.

They were dominant from first minute to last, lowly opponents Prescot Cables struggling to make any sort of impact on the game, yet the opposition were still able to score twice against a defence that been so solid until a couple of months ago.

Prescot were even allowed to take a shock early lead when a mix-up in Darlington’s defence between Chris Hunter and the recalled Alan White saw James Jenkins lob stranded keeper Peter Jameson from 30 yards.

It was the fourth time in seven matches that Quakers have fallen behind inside the first ten minutes.

But they soon recovered, Mitchell levelling with a volley after a Terry Galbraith corner, won when keeper Ben Morrow had saved Galbraith's penalty, awarded when Graeme Armstrong was hauled to the ground by Liam Dodd. 

Galbraith was at left-back as Ian Watson,manager Martin Gray later explained, had a slight injury problem.

Quakers continued to dominate for the remainder of the half, though failed to trouble Morrow until White deservedly put them ahead at half-time with a header from a Galbraith free-kick.

On the hour Mitchell made it 3-1, firing through a crowded penalty area after a Galbraith corner and he completed his hat-trick with a shot off the post at the end of a move that began with a Gary Brown throw-in.

Brown returned at right-back as manager Martin Gray made three changes in response to losing to Northwich Victoria last Saturday.

Today’s performance was the response that the manager was looking for, though he will wonder how his team did not score more goals against weak opposition that pulled a goal back in the final minute.

James Gardiner’s 90th minute spot-kick, awarded after Jameson collided with the striker represented Prescot’s first and only touch of the ball inside Quakers’ penalty area during the entire match.

As Salford City also won, Darlington remain second, but can go top of the table for at least 24 hours on Monday evening when they travel to bottom-of-the-table New Mills.

Goals: Jenkins (9, 0-1); Mitchell (14, 1-1), White (41, 2-1), Mitchell (58, 3-1), Mitchell (70, 4-1) Gardiner pen (90, 4-2)

Bookings: Gardiner (41, foul), Harper (44, foul), Evans (77, foul); Brown (81, foul), Hunter (83, dissent)

Referee: Danny Markham (Washington)

Attendance: 927

Darlington: Jameson; Brown, White, Hunter, Galbraith; Mitchell, Scott, Portas, Thompson (Mota 66); Cartman (Dowson 60), Armstrong (Hatch 60). Subs (not used): Bell (gk), Weldon

Prescot Cables: Morrow, Flood, Harper, Sturtz-Rivelli (O’Reilly 38), Dodd, McCulloch, Phillips, Evans, Jenkins (Edgar 67), Gardiner, Durnin. Subs (not used): Quinn (gk), Prince, Black