POSTERS adorn the walls of Spotland declaring ‘We will be legends’; a grand declaration aimed at inspiring Rochdale to finally escape League Two.

They have been in the basement division for 35 years and are desperate for promotion, though no more so than Darlington who have seen their own hopes of leaving League Two dashed.

But far from conceding defeat against a backdrop of huge uncertainty, Quakers’ players have earned the fans’ respect for showing admirable spirit.

Heralding them as legends would be too strong, but Darlington are certainly more befitting of the title than Rochdale who are limping towards the play-offs.

Since winning at The Northern Echo Darlington Arena in late February, Keith Hill’s ‘legends’ have suffered six defeats, but Quakers can hold their heads high.

They certainly did on Saturday after delivering a hammer blow to Rochdale’s automatic promotion hopes in front of the Sky cameras.

The 2-0 win came at the scene where Quakers’ own promotion dream died so cruelly last May, defeated in a penalty shoot-out with Jason Kennedy missing the crucial kick.

On Saturday he took just four minutes to atone with a sweetly-struck, dipping 25- yard volley and, fittingly, it came at the same end of the pitch at which his penalty was saved.

He also scored a stunner in the play-offs against Rochdale and manager Dave Penney said: “Jason must enjoy playing on television and he must like playing against Rochdale too!

“He bent one in last season and today’s was a great strike.

“I’d forgotten about his penalty. I’d have preferred him to score that penalty than today’s goal as we might have gone to Wembley, but that was an excellent goal.

“It got us off to a great start, it gave us something to build on and gave us a lot of confidence.

“We’re playing for pride and since we went into administration the players have all dug in.

“It would have been easy to throw the towel in but they haven’t, they have been first class.”

A Rory McArdle own goal sealed the win for Quakers who were much-improved on their performance against Rochdale at the Arena on February 24 – a defeat quickly overshadowed by events the following day.

That was when George Houghton ended promotion hopes by condemning Quakers to another season in League Two, taking the club into administration and incurring a ten-point deduction.

As a cons e q u e n c e , the future of the club is uncertain, the players are not being paid and several are absent.

Despite all of the above, results such as Saturday’s demonstrated that Penney has managed to retain a work ethic in a talented squad deserving of better.

That talent was evident in Kennedy’s goal, teed up following a classy touch by Pawel Abbott.

The early goal silenced Rochdale’s second biggest league crowd of the season and provided Darlington with a winning position they rarely looked like relinquishing.

Before Kennedy’s goal Abbott had f i r e d s t r a i g h t at the keeper following good work by Main, while Miller also headed off target from a Franz Burgmeier corner, but it was Dale who had the better chances during the first half.

Keeper Przemyslaw Kazimierczak made two good saves, first tipping an Adam Le Fondre shot over and then pushing Chris Dagnall’s effort wide.

Dagnall wasted Dale’s best opportunity, taking one touch too many before firing over from near the penalty spot.

After the break Rochdale held plenty of possession but, with Ian Miller and Alan White heading away anything that came into their path, the division’s leading scorers did not force Kazimierczak into a another save and the contest was over on 66 minutes.

That was when McArdle scored an own goal, against the run of play, that he could do little about.

After a Burgmeier corner was partially cleared, Ricky Ravenhill headed the ball back into the danger area where Abbott headed on to the post and flat-footed McArdle only succeeded in diverting the ball past his own keeper.

Quakers comfortably saw out a rare Spotland win, only their third in 17 league visits since being were relegated to the basement division in 1992, but of more concern to Penney was the performance.

“Today was all about putting on a display in front of the cameras, getting a good result and trying to stop another team picking up points and getting to where we deserve to be in the table,” he said.

“It was a great performance from us, especially considering everything that has happened.

“Four loan players have gone back because of administration, we’re missing the club captain and four or five senior pros. And don’t forget Curtis is only an apprentice.

“So to come here and get a win is a fantastic result.”

But what was a fine win is somewhat wasted on a season destroyed by Houghton.

The injustice maybe hard to bear, but Darlington can at least take solace from their performances in the closing weeks of a wasted season.