We're continuing our look at back at our 1991 Fourth Division title win thanks to the adaptation of the book: "Darlo's on the Up."

The next home game against Gillingham on January 29^th was probably one of the most controversial in the club’s history, when two players were sent off and the referee was hit by an apple thrown from the East Stand.

Midfielder Andy Toman was dismissed by referee Tom Fitzharris for foul and abusive language towards a linesman following an offside decision that went against him, and then Mick Tait was sent off late in the second half for a second bookable offence.

The crowd was incensed, and after the final whistle as the referee walked towards the tunnel, he was struck by an object thrown from the East Stand paddock. “The referee slumped to the ground,” said the Echo. The object, which was picked up by a policeman, turned out to be an apple. “Shamed Quakers face FA enquiry,” was the Echo headline.

At the enquiry a few weeks later, the club was warned, instructed to post warning notices around the ground about fans’ behaviour and place more stewards near the tunnel.

The game ended in a 1-1 draw, Jim Willis scoring Darlo’s goal when they had ten men on the field. David Crown levelled for Gillingham with four minutes left, with Darlo appealing for offside – another decision that didn’t go down well on the night.

Speculation though was rife about the vacant Birmingham job, with Brian Little one of four people apparently in the running. “Little must stay,” sang the Darlo crowd. A day later, he agreed to. “Loyalty means something to me, and I have no intention of leaving this club in the lurch. If I were to go, I would want to take people like Frank Gray and Tony McAndrew with me, but doing that would cause difficulties for Darlington. I didn’t want to do that. I have reason to be grateful to this club and a number of people here, most notably the chairman. I didn’t want to let them down.”

Darlo made the short journey to play York City for the fifth time in the season on February 2nd, and finally Quakers managed to beat them to go up to third in the table.

John Borthwick scored with a header from a Gary Gill cross that went in off the bar, and for the third time in the season, York’s Nigel Pepper was shown a red card for a bad foul on John Borthwick near the end. Kevan Smith had the satisfaction of preventing a goal for his previous side when he cleared off the line. It got a bit heated at the end of the game, and City’s Shaun Reid, according to the Echo, “had to be restrained for his own good.” Reid would play a part in another controversial game 24 years later.

“Darlington coughed and spluttered their way to victory,” said Nick Helliwell. Nevertheless, Darlo were third in the table, level on points with Doncaster with a slightly worse goal difference, and one behind Northampton.

York defender Pepper got some flak. “Pepperclot” was the headline in the Sunday Sun.

The Darlo fans sang “There’s only one Brian Little”; the disillusioned York fans sang “Bird out.”

Little said; “I thought we played quite well and always looked the better side and more likely to score. “

Home next to Wrexham in a midweek game, and a good 1-0 win to put Darlo top of the league, courtesy of a Gary Gill volley from 15 yards after 19 minutes – and the midfielder celebrated by bowing to the crowd.

“Darlington forgot all about Tom Fitzharris to take three points that put them top of the Fourth Division,” wrote Nick Helliwell in the Echo.

It was the second time that Quakers had been top of the table since the turn of the year. “There wasn’t much elation in the dressing room after the game, because the players all knew we didn’t play very well,” Brian Little pointed out.

After the home game against Walsall was postponed because of heavy snow, Quakers travelled to Hampshire on February 19th for the re-arranged game with Aldershot that was postponed on Boxing Day, and they had a good 2-0 win. Lee Ellison scored just before half time from a John Borthwick cross, then Borthwick headed the second from a Drew Coverdale cross. It was Darlo’s sixth away win of the season.

Martin Gray, later to manage Darlington, played for Aldershot on loan from Sunderland. “We improved throughout the game and could have had more goals,” said manager Brian Little. “I was delighted that young Lee scored. He’s making good progress.”

“Darlington celebrated Christmas a little late – but Brian Little’s side won’t be complaining,” Nick Helliwell said.

That win set Darlo up nicely for the return derby against Hartlepool at a heavy Victoria Park on February 23rd. They picked up a useful point in a goalless draw, but the day belonged to keeper Mark Prudhoe, as he pulled off many superb saves – and then Darlo nearly pinched the points when they had two efforts cleared off the line in the closing minutes.  “Prudhoe magic” said the Sunday Sun. “Full marks, Pru” said the Echo. “Magic Mark saves the day” said the People.

“It was unbelievable, Mark Prudhoe had a blinder for them,” said Hartlepool’s former Darlo boss Cyril Knowles. “I hope Brian has done the pools this week.”

Brian Little said; “They were sharper than us and adapted to the conditions better, but I felt we did well defensively.”

The Echo’s headlines “Quakers in the Great Escape” and “Mark of distinction denies Hartlepool deserved victory,” summed up the game. “If Brian Little was whistling the theme tune from the Great Escape, he wasn’t doing it in public,” wrote Nick Helliwell.

Darlo went three points clear with a 2-0 away win at Carlisle United the following Tuesday, February 26th. In what was a poor game entertainment-wise, John Borthwick headed in a Frank Gray corner on 29 minutes, then Phil Linacre scored the second from twelve yards on 73 minutes.

The Carlisle fans shouted for the resignation of their manager Clive Middlemass at the end of the game, while the victory earned Brian Little the manager of the month award for February. “Our away form has set us up in a very good position over the last three games,” he said.

“Victory was easy enough, and the goals fleshed out a mostly barren performance,” wrote Nick Helliwell in the Echo.

There was a good home win on March 2^nd over fellow promotion challengers Stockport County, when John Borthwick flicked on a Mark Prudhoe clearance for Steve Mardenborough to run through and score the only goal of the game midway through the second half.  “Steve turns on the Samba style” said the Echo.

It wasn’t a vintage performance, but as Brian Little said; “At this stage of the season, it’s the result that matters.” Nick Helliwell wrote; “Points must come before entertainment.”

Walsall, who had won on their previous six visits to Feethams, were next up for Quakers on March 5^th , and they gave stubborn resistance until Mick Tait scored one of the goals of the season, when he won possession, and fired a powerful 25 yarder into the top corner of the net to win the game in front of 3,971.

It was Mark Prudhoe’s seventh successive clean sheet to equal Tony Moor’s record of over 20 years before, while Quakers stretched their unbeaten run to nine matches. Darlo were also eight points clear at the top of the table. “We didn’t seem to get going, but we defended well,” said Brian Little.

“Tait augmented his goal with an inspired defensive display,” wrote Nick Helliwell in the Echo.

Winger Paul Emson, meanwhile, left the club and joined Kettering in the Conference. Quakers also had a boardroom reshuffle. In came John Brockbank to join Alan Noble and Dick Corden, while Derek Mason, Brian Hadley and Alan Moore all left amicably.

There followed four games against other promotion contenders.

Quakers went to ninth placed Torquay United on March 9^th, but agonisingly lost 2-1 to a last minute header by Micky Holmes. Lee Ellison had earlier equalised for Quakers after Tommy Tynan put Torquay in front. There was a 3,078 crowd which included a healthy away following, considering the near 800 mile round trip. Some had travelled down overnight.

“We did more than enough to win, but you get setbacks like this. There’s no way back from a goal that late in the game,” said Brian Little. “It will possibly happen again before the season is out.”

The Echo headline was “New face needed to aid promotion bid.”