We complete our look back at the 1991 Fourth Division title win with the last part of the chapter in Darlo's on the Up, in which we pulled off an excellent 3-0 away win at Northampton, and we clinched promotion on the last day of the season against Rochdale.

Quakers then had a midweek trip to Peterborough United and drew an entertaining game 2-2, in fact Brian Little called it one of the best games he had ever been involved in.

Mark Hine, who starred for Darlo at the start of the Conference season, crossed for David Robinson to put Peterborough ahead on 7 minutes, but David Cork, recalled into the side after withdrawing his transfer request, equalised from a rebound after John Borthwick’s shot was blocked.

Jim Willis set up skipper Kevan Smith to head Darlo 2-1 into the lead just after half time, but the Posh levelled through David Riley, who once had a loan spell at Darlo. David Cork limped off injured and Steve Mardenborough had a late goal disallowed.

“A lot of teams would have gone under, but we showed there is no need to be frightened of any side,” said Little.

“Two teams surely destined for the Third Division produced a display that fully justified its Division Four Match of the day tag,” wrote Nick Helliwell in the Echo.

“Quaker halt Posh in corker,” was the headline in the Evening Gazette.

Then fourth placed Doncaster came to Feethams on March 16th, and Quakers needed an own goal by former Darlington keeper Paul Crichton near the end to earn a point when he fumbled a deep cross by Andy Toman into his own net. Kevan Smith had earlier put through his own goal at the other end when he deflected a Brendan Ormsby header past Mark Prudhoe. Darlo were still eight points clear at the top, and looking good.

“Doncaster were very competitive and knocked us out of our stride,” said Brian Little. “Whatever Doncaster had to eat for their pre-match meal, it’s a good bet it included plenty of red meat,” wrote Nick Helliwell in the Echo.

There was some bad news – defender David Corner, who hadn’t played for several months, announced his retirement at the age of 24 because of a knee injury. “My leg wouldn’t take the day-to-day grind of hard training and the medical advice was to stop playing full time,” he said. Little signed former Villa team mate Allan Evans as cover.

Another 1-1 draw followed three days later against Blackpool at Feethams, and again it was a Darlington defender who scored for the opposition, this time Jimmy Willis.

Kevan Smith headed Darlo into the lead from a Frank Gray corner, but Willis headed into his own goal five minutes after half time.

“Beating Mark Prudhoe is the hardest job in the Fourth Division. Unfortunately, the Darlington keeper’s team mates are making a habit of doing just that,” wrote Nick Helliwell in the Echo.

“People are saying we aren’t winning, but we’ve only lost twice this year,” said Brian Little, who denied a bid for former Darlo player David Currie, who was then at Oldham. “It’s ridiculous that to suggest we could be involved in a deal like this. Currie is probably one of the top money earners in the Second Division. It’s about time people began to realise what sort of budget we are working on here. We’ve spent around £15,000 this season, while Blackpool had a player in their team last night who cost £40,000.”

When Darlo drew 1-1 at lowly Hereford – their fourth successive draw -- they were still six points clear at the top of the table. Hereford took the lead with a 55^th minute penalty, but Darlo levelled five minutes from the end with a powerful low shot by Les McJannet after the Hereford keeper had punched a corner straight to him. “You’re a cracker, Mac” was one headline.

“I thought we were looking reasonably comfortable at half time, but when their goal went in we were looking disjointed,” said Little, who was now strongly linked to the vacant job at Newcastle. He was 9-4 favourite, ahead of big names such as Bobby Robson, Kenny Dalglish, Bruce Rioch and Terry Venables.

With nine games left, Darlo were still six points clear of Peterborough who had two games in hand, with Northampton and Blackpool occupying the other promotion places.

Little strengthened his squad for the run in by signing Mitch Cook on loan from Halifax, the left sided player’s second spell at the club.

Meanwhile, Newcastle appointed Ossie Ardiles as their new manager, which was a relief to Darlo fans.

Quakers ended a run of five games without a win on March 30^th by defeating Aldershot, managed by former Darlington manager Len Walker, 3-1 at Feethams.

Frank Gray put Darlo into the lead following a handball offence on 28 minutes, and John Borthwick made it 2-0 on 74 minutes with his 13^th goal of the season from a David Cork pass. Aldershot caused a scare by pulling a goal back, but Gray made sure of the points with a second penalty for another handball late in the game.

“Frank had a great game. We badly needed that win and in the dressing room I can sense that the tension has eased,” said Brian Little.

“Cool Frank on hand to settle Quakers’ nerve,” was the Echo headline. “Gray’s cultured left foot scored two vital penalties and his experience helped guide the team to perhaps their most vital win of the season.”

Quakers had to settle for a 2-2 draw after they squandered a two goal lead at Chesterfield on April 1st. They scored twice in the opening 20 minutes with a header by John Borthwick and a curler by David Cork, but Lee Turnbull, who played for Darlo a few years later, scored twice for Chesterfield, one of them a hotly-disputed penalty for a foul by Kevan Smith. “Their forward was never going for goal, and I thought he tripped over,” said Smith.

Nevertheless, Darlo were still seven points clear of Peterborough and Northampton.

Darlo bounced back in the next home game against Scarborough with a 2-1 win, coming back from a goal down. Quakers trailed early on, but then Andy Toman levelled early in the second half with a powerful shot, then Kevan Smith helped on a long ball for John Borthwick to score with a diving header. Darlo were still top by seven points, but Brian Little played down promotion talk. “We’ll need 80 points to be sure of promotion,” he said. That equated to three wins from six matches. “Some people are saying that we’re as good as up now, but we’ve still got games to win.”

They didn’t beat Lincoln at home on April 9th, and had to settle for a 1-1 draw.

Lincoln took the lead with nine minutes left when Mark Prudhoe made a mess of a clearance and Anth Lormor pounced to score, but in the last few seconds of stoppage time, John Borthwick hit the bar, and Gary Gill slid home the loose ball. That left Darlo eight points clear of Peterborough, who had three games in hand. But it was still pretty tense, with fifth placed Hartlepool and sixth placed Blackpool possessing enough games in hand to overtake Quakers.

“The softest goal of the season almost earned Lincoln an improbable victory and dented Darlington’s championship hopes,” wrote Nick Helliwell in the Echo. “Darlington’s never-say-die spirit finally succeeded, and at the end of the season could yet prove the difference between success and failure.”

The nerves were jangling amongst the supporters, but the players kept their cool, and they had a good 1-0 away win at Cardiff on April 13th. Cardiff defender Neil Matthews, under pressure from a long clearance by Mark Prudhoe, neatly lobbed his own keeper for the winner in the second half.

“We played very well, although Cardiff made life difficult,” said Brian Little. “It was a really good game, because both sides went for the three points. We want to stay unbeaten for the rest of the season.”

Captain Kevan Smith said; “We needed to win after drawing against Lincoln, and on the balance of play I think we deserved it.”

Ray Simpson wrote; “Cardiff defender Neil Matthews succeeded where Darlington’s forwards failed.”

Quakers didn’t really capitalise on the Cardiff win because they were held to a 1-1 draw by Maidstone at Feethams on April 20th. They trailed until Andy Toman ran through and equalised three minutes after half time. They were now four points clear of Stockport County in second with three games remaining. The nerves were beginning to jangle again. The previous season the promotion race was between Darlo and Barnet, this time it was between Darlo and five others.

“Teams are coming here and deliberately stopping us playing. That means the fans get frustrated and that doesn’t help anyone,” said Brian Little.

“Should Darlington claim the Fourth Division title they will do so almost by default,” wrote Nick Helliwell in the Echo. “For too long now Quakers have been relying on results elsewhere rather than confirming their own superiority by on the pitch performances. Against a very average Maidstone side, Brian Little’s team showed collective panic and an unconscious will to self-destruct.”

The away form again came up trumps for the next away trip, to Northampton Town, and they won 3-0, with all the goals coming in the first 17 minutes. The pick of them was probably Mitch Cook’s memorable left foot volley from the edge of the box, the second goal of the game. John Borthwick headed the first from a David Cork cross, and Micky Trotter got the third from a corner.

“I was delighted for Mitch, because he has had a bit of a sticky patch,” said Brian Little. “We are keeping our feet on the ground and we will save our celebrations until we are mathematically sure of going up.”

Nick Helliwell wrote; “Quakers won the match in the opening 17 minutes with a dazzling display of attacking football.”

There were over 1,000 Darlo supporters in the County Ground, but one missed the start of the game – vice chairman Alan Noble took a wrong turn and arrived 20 minutes late.

One win was now needed from two games to clinch promotion. The last away game of the season was on May 4^th at Scunthorpe’s Glanford Park, where, ironically, Quakers had been relegated to the Conference two seasons previously. Would the wheel turn full circle? 2,000 fans made the journey to find out.

Their chances weren’t helped when Jim Willis pulled out with a back injury before the game, which meant that Quakers had to switch from 5-3-2 to 4-4-2, and to make matters worse, full back Les McJannet limped off with a hamstring injury midway through the first half. Andy Flounders put Scunthorpe into the lead, and even though Frank Gray had a goal harshly disallowed for offside but then levelled with a penalty, Tony Daws got the winner with a shot on the turn. It was only Darlo’s second defeat in 22 games.

“I’ve said all along that it could go to the last match, and so it’s proved. It’s up to us to lift ourselves,” said Brian Little. “Glanford Park isn’t the happiest place for me or Darlington, and I was glad to get away as quickly as possible.  We missed Jimmy badly. The defensive partnership of Willis, Smith and Tait has been crucial to our success this season.”

Darlo were still top of the table, but only four points covered the top six after the Scunthorpe game. Stockport and Hartlepool were both a point behind, with Blackpool four points back in fourth. Then came Peterborough and Burnley.

Peterborough won their midweek game to go a point behind Quakers, so just like the previous season at Welling, Quakers would have to be successful in the last game of the season, otherwise they might drop from first to fifth if they lost and their immediate promotion challengers won their games.

But what pressure and tension existed against Rochdale on May 11th, soon disappeared after 9 minutes when John Borthwick helped on a long clearance by Mark Prudhoe for David Cork to fire into the top corner. They created more chances until Frank Gray converted a second half penalty when Jimmy Willis was barged to the ground. That started premature celebrations amongst the 9,160 crowd.

There was a big crowd invasion at the end of the game, and as Nick Helliwell observed; “The pitch area shrunk somewhat in the closing minutes.” The Fourth Division championship trophy was presented to skipper Kevan Smith, and the biggest cheer was reserved for the manager.

“David uncorks the bubbly” was the Northern Echo headline.

“Early goals in both halves made sure the fans could start the celebrations long before the final whistle,” said the Sunday Sun. The People said; “After heading the table for three months, it would have been tragic if Darlington hadn’t gone up as champs.”

Kevan Smith said; “To win the title in front of your own fans is something else.”

Quakers won the league with 83 points, by a point from Stockport and Hartlepool on 82 and Peterborough on 80. Blackpool and Burnley both missed out on 79.

Sadly, but maybe not surprisingly, the Rochdale game proved to be Brian Little’s last game in charge. There was plenty of speculation about him going to either Stoke or Leicester, and within a fortnight of the end of the season, he left for Leicester, who paid Darlo compensation for him.

“Inevitable, but still a shattering blow,” was the Echo headline. “Finding another Brian Little is going to be chairman Dick Corden’s hardest task. He’s taking his special qualities elsewhere. We wish him well, we wish he’d stayed.”

Frank Gray was appointed manager, but Quakers’ stay in the old Third Division lasted only one season, and they were relegated at the end of season 1991-92 – but many people would never forget the magnificent two years under Little.