There was a late twist at Blackwell Meadows as Moors fell to an agonising defeat at the hands of Darlington in National League North.
Substitute Cedric Main’s 91st-minute stunner snatched all three points for The Quakers in dramatic fashion at the end of an encounter in which both sides had men sent off.
Both sides had some half chances in the opening five minutes. Cam Salkeld’s ball into Corey McKeown was just too far ahead of the winger, before Charlie Lennon fired wide at the other end.
Salkeld was involved again just before the half-hour mark when he looped a ball to the back post. The ball found the feet of Junior Mondal, who fired on goal but saw his shot blocked on the line.
The hosts almost put themselves ahead on the 31st minute, when Will McGowan navigated a header on target, but an outstanding save from Bobby Jones denied the number 24.
Moors saw a good chance to go ahead go begging with five minutes of the first half left to play. McKeown weaved into space on the edge of the area, before trying his luck with a curled effort, which had to be palmed behind brilliantly by Pete Jameson.
With scores level at the break, Darlington looked to get themselves in front early in the second period. The tricky Lennon almost got away down the right hand side but was stopped in his tracks thanks to a brilliant sliding challenge from McKeown.
A scuffle broke out on the pitch with 63 minutes on the clock, as chaos ensued on the pitch. It resulted in the sending off of both Salkeld and Scott Barrow in the space of just a couple of seconds, with the referee handing both players their second yellow cards of the afternoon.
Former Moors man, Aidan Rutledge almost put the hosts ahead just two minutes later. A ball into the area found the frontman, but he couldn’t get his header on target, as it fell wide of the mark.
Tom Pugh almost broke the deadlock when he took aim with a first time strike on the edge of the area, only to see the shot fizz just wide of Jameson’s right post.
Lennon saw a chance to put The Quakers ahead go amiss when he blazed over from the edge of the area just eight minutes from time, while the returning Rob Ramshaw did superbly to burst in behind the Darlington defence but his low cross was cut out.
Darlington got themselves ahead in dramatic fashion when substitute, Main, unleashed an unbelievable strike into the top right corner of the net to put Steve Watson’s side ahead at the start of injury time.
Ramshaw had a half chance to level things in the dying embers, only to see his volleyed effort from the edge of the area bobble into the hands of Jameson.
Things only got worse for Moors after the game’s conclusion, as Olly Dyson was given his marching orders after the full-time whistle.
Full Time: Darlington 1 Moors 0
Darlington: Jameson, Hedley, Platt, Lees, Barrow, Howells (Allan 74), McGowan, McLaughlin, Lennon, Maskell (Main 63), Rutledge.
Subs not used: Cornish, McGrath, Barton, Griffiths, Stanton.
Booked: McLaughlin (16), Barrow (18).
Sent-off: Barrow (62)
Moors: B Jones, Dyson, Pollock, D Jones, Hill, Dolan, Pugh, McKeown, Ramshaw, Salkeld, Mondal.
Subs not used: Johnson, Beals, Luck, Green, Atkinson, Docherty.
Booked: Salkeld (18), D Jones (47).
Sent-off: Salkeld (62), Dyson (90).
Referee: Scott Simpson
Attendance: 1,756 (203 away)
Written by Noah Betts