DARLINGTON performed admirably against First Division opponents Sheffield United in last night's Worthington cup first round, but for the third time since 1997, Michael Brown proved to be the scourge of Quakers.

The Hartlepool-born midfielder put in a great display on the left hand side in the second half and it was his cross which produced an injury time winner from French forward Laurent D'Jaffo.

Quakers can consider themsleves very unlucky not to have taken the Blades to extra time after a second half in which Gary Bennett's men enjoyed plenty of possesion and created chances they should have converted.

In contrast to last season when Gary Bennett rested several first-team regulars for the ties against Nottingham Forest and Bradford City, Quakers fielded a full-strength team albeit without the injured Neil Wainwright who was replaced by Mark Convery.

Also in the starting line-up was Saturday's super sub Richard Hodgson who came in for Brian Atkinson.

After just six minutes Darlington almost took a shock lead when Hodgson raced down the left and delivered an inviting low ball into the area but Danny Mellanby couldn't beat Blades' keeper Simon Tracey to the ball.

Both teams wasted golden opportunities to open the scoring in the 12th minute with first Hodgson stalling on the ball while in a good position in the box before losing possession, and then Paul Devlin blasted over for the Blades when he had more time than he realised.

As the 20 minute mark approached, Blades were beginning to stamp their authority on the game.

The visitors from South Yorkshire were creating plenty of chances, with Carl Asaba testing Andy Collett with a powerful drive and Shaun Murphy having a header tipped over the bar.

With ten minutes to go before the break the visitors were almost rewarded for their pressure when Paul Peschisolido turned smartly on the edge of Darlington's penalty area before shooting low towards goal but Collett made an excellent save.

In a rare break forward, Darlington wasted a good chance when Hodgson, who switched to the right, went to the by-line but instead of pulling the ball back to the unmarked Neil Maddison, he tried to pass to Mellanby on the six yard line, but he was crowded out.

The opening stages of the second period saw Darlington cope better with the threat of their First Division guests.

But Michael Brown, who was barracked by the Feethams crowd all evening, was always a threat and beat three Quakers defenders before delivering a great cross to Peschisolido whose header was deflected for a corner.

With the final whistle approaching Brown refused to let the game go to extra-time and it was his cross that was finished in fine style by French substitute D'Jaffo to break the Quakers' hearts.

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