Cambridge United inflicted more misery on Darlington with a 2-1 win at Feethams last night.

Just 2,076 turned up to witness an Omar Riza double sink a Quakers side who are now fighting for their league status after a miserable defeat which also saw Barry Conlon sent off.

The big Irishman was dismissed for a second bookable offence to complete a woeful evening for Mick Tait's side, who are now six points clear of the relegation zone having played at least one more game than many of the clubs below them.

Conlon's sending-off - his second of the season - will mean a minimum two-game ban for Darlington's top scorer.

A disappointed Tait believed the low crowd summed up the season for Quakers. "The fans are voting with their feet," said Tait.

"They haven't had the season they'd expected. They're all very disappointed but it doesn't help when fans are staying away.

"If they stay away we have less money coming into the club so it's a very difficult situation to be in.

"We have less chance of improving the team - it's a vicious circle.

"That's what they've decided to do and you can't do anything about it."

The caretaker boss was hoping for a positive response from the players after the disappointment of defeat at Bournemouth.

"I really thought we'd win tonight after Saturday," said Tait.

"The lads were desperate to bounce back but we didn't have anyone bright enough in the first half to spring the offside trap."

Tait handed a recall to Ian Clark and brought in Paul Campbell, making his first start since October.

Cambridge arrived without a win in their last seven prior to last night, and were unlucky not to go in front early on when defender Matt Clarke hacked clear from Luke Gutteridge's 25-yard effort.

It wasn't until the 22nd minute that the home side recorded their first effort although Ashley Nicholls' glancing header went well wide.

Midfielder Clark Keltie livened up an otherwise dour opening half hour showing some nifty footwork before volleying over from 30 yards.

At the other end Cambridge came within inches of winning a penalty when Riza was tripped by Betts, who was relieved to see a free-kick awarded.

Slack marking allowed Cambridge to open the scoring on 38 minutes when Riza slammed home from close range after Dave Kitson had nodded on Warren Goodhind's free-kick from the left.

In the 59th minute Cambridge were presented with a glorious opportunity to double their advantage from the spot after Riza saw his shot charged down by Conlon who was adjudged to have handled in the box. Conlon was cautioned and Riza stepped up only to blaze his shot over the crossbar.

In the 72nd minute Conlon compounded a miserable evening when he was dismissed for a second bookable offence for a foul on Fred Murray.

Just as the game looked to be slipping away Quakers drew level with ten minutes left through substitute Danny Mellanby.

Nicholls' corner fell to Liddle at the back post who headed across the face of goal for Mellanby to head home from six yards out.

The revival didn't last long though with Kitson's cross finished by Riza at the second attempt.

Result: Darlington 1 Cambridge Unied 2.

Read more about the Quakers here.