At the end of an unfulfilling season, if Darlington have not crept into the play-off zone, as now looks likely, it will be nobody else's fault but their own.

They now look as though they have left themselves too much work to do. But despite the countless injuries and the numerous debatable refereeing performances, if, as the old adage says, Quakers are to finish eighth then it will be because they deserve to, no matter how they dress up their tough luck story.

But Darlington's players will take some convincing that well-worn and blunt proverb actually carries any weight, especially so after Saturday or, to be more precise, the 77th minute at Sincil Bank when Quakers came across another one of them 'if only' incidents.

At 0-0, and with play-off rivals Northampton 2-0 up, Clyde Wijnhard played a ball into the path of Jonjo Dickman in the Lincoln penalty area. Just as he's waiting for it to drop Ben Futcher's outstretched leg, from behind, brings the Quakers midfielder crashing to the ground. Penalty, surely?

No, reckons referee Mark Cowburn and 13 minutes later the game ends goalless and Northampton have edged Darlington out of the play-off zone with one game to play. If only, say the players- although stronger words may have been used in Mr Cowburn's direction.

Predictably, manager David Hodgson wasn't best pleased. "It was absolutely ridiculous, he seethed. "That referee may have cost us the possibility of going to a play-off final.

"He made four or five bad decisions but that was the worst of the lot.

"It was a penalty, no doubt about it, it was an absolute stonewall penalty.

"We had lads in the squad, not on the bench, sat in the stand right near to the incident and they couldn't believe it."

In a week's time, when it could be too late, Quakers could easily look back on that incident and realise the magnitude of Mr Cowburn's decision not to point to the spot. The difference between success and failure could suddenly become all too evident.

There has been a dozen or more similarly influential moments of the 'if only' nature this season - prior to Saturday it was the last minute conceded equaliser at Mansfield - but the damage has been done over the course of the season when some horrendous performances have warranted horrendous results.

Taking one point from the four matches involving relegated Kidderminster and Cambridge has been a disaster but such results have been in keeping with Darlington's form against lower placed sides.

They've lost 14 league matches but nine of them have been to teams in the bottom half of the division - some would say that kind of records suggest Darlington don't deserve to be in play-off contention.

But in the reckoning they are and of all the possible permutations the most likely is that Darlington will need to win on Saturday and win well. That means scoring four or five goals - something they were never going to do at Lincoln.

Playing as a lone striker with support from Bobby Petta and Neil Wainwright, Wijnhard's two shots, one off target, were Quakers' only efforts at goal as Darlington struggled to breakdown a well-organised, defensively strong side.

With Dickman starting in place of the injured Stephen Thomas, Hodgson explained the 4-3-3 formation was intended to retain possession but the Imps made all the running in the first half with Quakers restricted to counter-attacks.

It was from these that Wijnhard volleyed over on eight minutes and shortly afterwards, following good work by Dickman who was Darlington's best player, hit a shot first time from 18 yards when he could have taken a touch.

But by then Sam Russell had already twice been called into action, denying Simon Yeo and then Gareth McAuley whose powerful shot was goal-bound until the keeper's intervention at the near post.

Striker Derek Asamoah flicked a header just over the bar and as Lincoln's pressure mounted he also crossed from the byline after he sprinted through the Darlington defence but Dickman cleared. By the 33rd minute they had forced eight corners, Quakers' first coming in the 38th of a first half Lincoln dominated.

Wijnhard was caught flat-footed in the box when Wainwright teed him up in the first minute of the second period but that was about as good as it got for Darlington thereafter as Lincoln stayed strong.

Simon Yeo saw a shot roll across Quakers' goal with the sliding Richard Butcher just unable to make contact and then 6ft 7ins Futcher saw a free header at a Lincoln corner go wide.

The came Futcher's escape, appearing to bring down Dickman in the area but, with the close-by 1,390 Darlington fans screaming for penalty Mr Cowburn shook his head, instead deeming Futcher's challenge to be a well-executed tackle.

If Mr Cowburn should have pointed to the spot perhaps Darlington were suffering from another adage, the one which says good and bad luck evens itself out over a season, or in Quakers' case, a week. Seven days previously Darlington were awarded a dubious penalty against Rushden for a so-called foul on Wainwright, so maybe the footballing Gods were simply on Lincoln's side.

But, coming at the business end of the season, this incident was hard to take, and it would have been even tougher had Russell again not rescued Darlington when he beat away Peter Gain's powerful drive towards the bear post after an 88th minute corner.

At the end of a tense game, as a handful of brain-dead meatheads in the Darlington end attempted to cause trouble with the home support, Quakers threw men forward.

But it was not to be and whether or not Darlington should have been given the penalty, few could argue they actually deserved three points.

But one thing is for sure, at least the weekend's results ensure a nail-biting climax to the season.

Result: Lincoln City 0 Darlington 0.

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