As top of the table Northwich Victoria drew 2-2 with third-placed Salford City, a Quakers win would have seen them return to the top of the table.

But they could only draw 2-2, a scoreline they would have been grateful for after 20 minutes when they found themselves 2-0 down to a team yet to win away this season.

Goals by Sam Cook and Richard Smith rocked Quakers, who never fully recovered on a day in which they were far from their best.

Cook was left in acres of space to coolly slot home after a pass by Elliott Rokka when Darlington were somehow light on numbers at the back.

And Smith headed into the net at close-range to make it 2-0 when unmarked after a free-kick, conceded when Ian Watson tangled with Bevan Burey.

Watson was involved in a handful of incidents during a feisty first half and manager Martin Gray chose to substitute him at half-time to avoid the possibility of him seeing red.

Radcliffe sub Daniel White was dismissed in the tunnel at the break, however, after referee Paul Keogh took a dim view of his assessment of his first-half performance.

Neither club was satisfied with Keogh, however, who made a number of odd decisions and was booed off at the break.

By that stage Darlington had rallied, Graeme Armstrong pulling one back with a header after a free-kick by Jordan Robinson, who made his first start since recovering from a broken cheekbone.

An invigorated Darlington pushed for an equaliser in the second half, goalkeeper Chris Cheetham denying them by making several fine saves.

He flung himself to his left to claw away an Armstrong header, before Tom Portas was inches away from a terrific leveller with a powerful effort from distance going just over the bar.

Desperate to salvage something from the game, Gray switched to 3-4-3 with striker David Dowson replacing Robinson, but their desire to go forward saw them leave gaps at the back and Radcliffe almost added a third.

Goalkeeper Peter Jameson made a save with his feet to deny Elliott Rokka when one-on-one.

The last roll of Gray’s dice saw him give a debut to French winger Nelson Mota who came on for his Darlington debut with 22 minutes to play with Darlington needing two goals to win.

It was a big ask, but he impressed supporters with some nice touches and his flair was a feature as Quakers launched attack after attack, finally equalising when Armstrong headed home at close-range.

His looping header evaded Cheetham, though Radcliffe were incensed and believed their goalkeeper had been impeded.

With ten minutes to go, Darlington sensed victory was within their grasp and they came so close to adding a third.

Alan White’s flicked header after a corner was saved at the near post by Cheetham, Armstrong headed wide at the back post after Thompson got to the byline and in the dying seconds Thompson thundered an effort off the outside of the post.

They could not quite do enough to win, the game ended 2-2 which represented a fine comeback given that they were 2-0 early on, but a poor result.

It was the second time they have dropped points this season against Radcliffe this season.

Quakers are now unbeaten in 13 league games and their next match is at Heritage Park against Scarborough Athletic on Boxing Day.

Goals: Cook (7, 0-1), Smith (20, 0-2); Armstrong (20, 1-2), Armstrong (79, 2-2)

Bookings: Lambert (13, dissent); Watson (19, unsporting behaviour); Burey (22, time wasting); A White (46, foul), Jameson (65, time wasting); Mason (87, dissent) Sending-off: D White (46, dissent)

Referee: Paul Keogh

Attendance: 887

Darlington: Jameson; Robinson (Dowson 64), Hunter, White, Watson (Galbraith 46); A Mitchell (Mota 68), Scott, Portas, Thompson; Armstrong, Purewal. Subs (not used): Bell (gk), Cocks

Radcliffe Borough: Cheetham, Wedge, Lambert, Lafferty, Smith, Howell, Mason, Sherlock, Burey, Rokka (Hibbert 78), Cook. Subs (not used): White, Hindle