DARLINGTON defender Ryan Valentine has accused Boston United striker Daryl Clare of diving to win his side a penalty at the weekend.

Referee Fred Graham awarded a 19th minute spot-kick after penalising Curtis Fleming for a challenge on Clare.

Valentine was only yards away from the incident and felt Fleming shielded the ball legally from Boston's recent signing.

Andy Kirk converted the spot kick and Valentine said: "The ball came over from the right and all Curtis has done is stood his ground to let the ball go over his head.

"From our point of view Clare took a dive and the referee has fallen for it."

Despite Quakers' dominance in the first half, Clare added a second for Boston, before Danny Thomas made it 3-0 before half-time.

He said: "That's probably one of the most one-sided first halves we'll ever see this season. They only had three shots in the first half and scored from all of them.

"We came in at half-time and the manager has just told us to keep going, to hopefully nick a goal or two.

"We got a goal and I thought we could maybe go on and get something out of the game, but they shut-up shop and defended for the rest of the game."

Craig Hignett gave Quakers a glimmer of hope, scoring from the penalty spot early in the second half.

In similar controversial circumstances, Graham pointed to the spot when Alun Armstrong was nudged over in the box by Dean West.

"I think the referee realised he'd made a mistake and I think it evened itself up when we got a penalty," added Valentine.

Quakers slipped down to eighth in League Two following the defeat.

However, Valentine remains upbeat and believes the remaining games of 2005 against Rochdale and Shrewsbury Town are going to be crucial to their promotion aspirations.

"If we can go into the New Year in a good position then hopefully we can kick on and get in the play-offs at least," said Valentine.

"The gaffer has brought a lot of quality into the squad and we have to fancy our chances.

"The defeat against Boston was disappointing but we have to bounce back against Rochdale on Boxing Day."

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