Darlington skipper Kevin Burgess said that the team showed real grit and determination to pick up a point at Ilkeston on Monday night.

After coming back from a goal down, Quakers held on for a point after playing for most of the second half with ten men after right back Chris Hunter was sent off.

“The defence has been taking some stick lately, but I thought we defended well, especially when we were down to ten men, and briefly nine while Whitey was off the field,” he said.

“The whole team, from front to back, showed real grit and determination to go back to Darlington with a point.

“I know Whitey has been scoring goals up front, but he’s a natural centre half and is another voice on the field.

“I thought our back four was big and strong, with Chris Hunter at right back and Terry Galbraith at left back. It worked very well.”

Kev wasn’t too pleased with some of the refereeing decisions. “Chris Hunter’s was never a sending off, he simply challenged for the ball, and at worst it was a booking and not a red card. One of their players made a similar challenge, and no action was taken. The ref just ran straight over and sent Chris off.

[caption id="attachment_13602" align="alignnone" width="300"] Chris Hunter walks to the dressing room after being red carded[/caption]

“Their keeper took a long goal kick, and Whitey was elbowed in the eye, and had to have six stitches. It was a bad cut, but the ref said that he missed the challenge. There was blood all over the place.

“The penalty could have gone either way; the award of it was really harsh.”

Quakers are at Ramsbottom in a re-arranged game this Saturday, having already beaten them 2-1 this season at Heritage Park.

“Going on that performance, Ramsbottom are in a false position at the bottom of the table. They gave us a good game, which shows that we won’t be underestimating them. We’ll need to be at the top of our game.”