Being the Jekyll and Hyde outfit they are, Darlington have picked up a habit of dropping points against the division's lower clubs this season. However, this was one game they cannot be faulted for not winning.

Quakers did their best to get past a determined team but despite attacking throughout the second half, they saw shot after shot blocked.

Earlier this season Jose Mourinho blasted Tottenham after they earned a 0-0 draw at Chelsea, saying Spurs had parked the team bus in front of goal, and the same could be said of Oxford who seemingly switched to a 9-0-1 formation after half-time.

Whenever Darlington had an attacking spell, which in the second half lasted from the 46th to 90th minute, Oxford put nine men behind the ball and at free-kicks every player was on defensive duty.

The Quakers were denied by a wall of yellow that blocked every Quakers shot, with Oxford clearly very happy with a point judging by their celebrations at the final whistle.

Although Oxford worked hard, it was Darlington who did all the running. David Hodgson's side can consider themselves unlucky to have dropped two points, although they almost lost to Tommy Mooney's late blistering effort which brought a good save out of Sam Russell.

The game was reminiscent of the 3-1 defeat at Boston before Christmas, when Darlington enjoyed all the possession but couldn't turn it into goals.

The sense of injustice left Hodgson in downbeat mood.

"If Mooney's shot had gone in I would've put my coat on, walked down the tunnel, got in my car and drove straight home because that would have typified what goes on here because we are not a lucky football club," he said.

"I told the players at half-time that we have to work for everything we get because this club does not get any luck.

"We had chances in the second half but we could have been on the pitch now and still not scored.

"We had so much of the play, probably too much of it. Instead of attacking with three against four or five defenders, it was eight against ten because they packed the penalty area, so there wasn't space to play football."

The first period saw Quakers start brightly, and after Lee Bradbury's rising shot was tipped over the bar by keeper Sam Russell, Darlington went ahead in the eighth minute as Adolfo Gregorio recorded his first strike in English football - the 101st in total at the stadium.

It was a decent effort which got him off the mark. Picking the ball up in central midfield he dribbled unchallenged before firing left-foot effort from 20 yards past keeper Chris Tardif who appeared to misjudge the flight of the ball in the blustery conditions.

With Darlington in the ascendancy it should have been game over after only 15 minutes but Alun Armstrong uncharacteristically missed from close-range. Firstly his header was blocked and then he put the rebound over the bar.

From this point Oxford eased their way back into the game, pressing for an equaliser and with Darlington restricted to infrequent attacks, it was no surprise when Jamie Brooks levelled.

After pushing over a Darlington defender, Brooks latched on to a through-ball before firing past Russell at his near post.

Before Saturday's fixture Darlington had the division's best second half record while Oxford had the worst, but statistics meant little to the visitors.

They were resolute in defence with one of nine defenders always on hand to block any Darlington efforts at goal, and when they weren't attacking Quakers were victims of some cynical foul play.

But for all Darlington's possession, few of their shots reached the keeper as United defenders threw themselves in front of shots. A side-footed Armstrong effort was deflected wide and sub Chris Hughes saw a volley blocked while several other attempts - too many to mention - were denied.

Such was his lack of activity keeper Sam Russell could have nipped to the kiosk for a cup of coffee and nobody would have noticed his absence.

He did, however, have to be alert when Oxford came close to making it 2-1 when they mounted two counter attacks, the first seeing Brooks shoot straight at him from the edge of the box.

But the second saw Mooney fire an effort powerfully from 25 yards which Sam Russell was equal to and shortly afterwards Adrian Webster could, and perhaps should, have grabbed all three points but he side-footed an effort straight at Tardiff.

Of all Quakers' second half opportunities it was one of the rare shots that actually reached the Oxford keeper but it was far too easy for Tardiff, meaning Darlington were denied a deserved win.

Victory on Saturday would have meant three straight wins to start 2005, and Quakers haven't managed that since Lol Morgan led the class of 1966 - Ron Greener, John Peverell and Ray Yeoman et al - to promotion from Division Four.

Hodgson's class of 2005 are still on track for a crack at promotion but although Darlington have a good record in the second half of games, it's in the second half of the season that they must put a good run together over the final 20 matches.

Darlington did just that in their previous two play-off seasons, from this stage losing just once before the end of the 95/96 season and only on three occasions did Quakers lose in last 20 games of 99/00.

If Darlington can maintain the same level of commitment throughout the rest of the season then a third attempt at the play-offs would be attainable.

Result: Darlington 1 Oxford United 1.

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