THE world's finest grass seed was delivered to Darlington's new football ground yesterday to ensure the club comes up with the top turf in the land.

Already jubilant because of his team's double success at the weekend, the Quakers' chairman, George Reynolds, looked on in delight as the operation to sow hundreds of kilos of the seed got under way.

Watching from the recently completed terraces of the multi-million pound stadium in the town's Neasham Road, Mr Reynolds predicted that the shoots of grass would be through within a couple of weeks.

"This seed is from a Belgian company and is the finest and most expensive in the world," said Mr Reynolds.

While the sowing went ahead, Mr Reynolds said he was ecstatic about the weekend's results, first when his club defeated arch rivals Hartlepool 2-1, and then by a 1-0 victory over Bristol Rovers.

"It couldn't have been a better weekend for us. The growing attendance at all our matches reflects the renewed support and confidence in this very able team," he said.

Mr Reynolds also paid tribute to manager Gary Bennett who, he said, had shouldered a huge amount of criticism as he toiled to build a new team following the resignation of former manager David Hodgson.

"Let us hope his critics will at last recognise Gary for the very capable manager he is. Results like this speak for themselves," said Mr Reynolds.

With everything to look forward to, Mr Reynolds said: "For a while I thought my direct line through to Him upstairs had been disconnected, but it looks as though we are back on very good speaking terms."