A great hat trick by Adam Mitchell, the first of his career, kept Darlington well and truly in the title hunt.

The margin of victory was two goals, but the game was quite one sided.

Quakers went close after just five minutes when Stephen Thompson chipped a free kick forward for Graeme Armstrong to head just wide of the post.

But Prescot took the lead after 9 minutes when James Jenkins picked up a long ball, looked up and perfectly lobbed Peter Jameson from fully 35 yards.

Quakers were awarded a penalty after 12 minutes when Armstrong was held down by defender Liam Dodds in the Prescot box, but Ben Morrow dived to his left to save Terry Galbraith’s penalty.

But from Galbraith’s inswinging corner that followed from the right, Mitchell, who was on trial at Gillingham last week, volleyed the equaliser home through a crowd of players.

Quakers nearly went 2-1 up with a first time volley by Mitchell from a Thompson’s ball forward, but the ball went across the face of goal and wide.

Quakers had plenty of possession after that, but didn’t really make it count until the 42^nd minute, when Galbraith curled a wind assisted free kick in from the right for Alan White to head into the bottom corner.

Quakers got the third on 58 minutes when a right wing corner by Galbraith was cleared only as far as Leon Scott, who rolled the ball square for Mitchell to fire right footed into the bottom corner through a crowd of players.

Mitchell completed his hat trick on 69 minutes when sub Liam Hatch found fellow sub David Dowson running forward to the edge of the box, and Dowson squared the ball for Mitchell to take a touch and slot left footed into the bottom corner of the net.

Quakers could have had more, but it was Prescot who scored the next goal from the spot through James Gardiner, who had been brought down by Jameson.