THERE was no lack of effort, but a lack of goals cost Darlington last night as they were held to a second successive scoreless draw, this time at crisis club Kettering Town.

A number of players have departed both clubs in recent weeks due to financial issues, with the Poppies last night able to only name two substitutes.

Yet, three days after losing 7-0 at York City, their stubborn resistance earned a draw against Craig Liddle's side who forced plenty of chances but were denied by keeper Laurie Walker.

He had plenty to do, including an injury time save from Dale Hopson, while Quakers keeper Sam Russell had only one save to make.

"Listening to their dressing room, you'd think they'd just won the FA Cup and rightly so because they've had a lot of problems and have struggled to get a side out," said Liddle.

"So it was a huge result for them, as good as a win, and that's why we're so disappointed because we thought we'd come here and win.

"Throughout the time I've been caretaker I've not been able to fault the players' effort and it was the same tonight, but they made the wrong decisions at critical times - the final ball in the final third let us down.

"We talked before the game about approaching it in the correct manner, but we started slowly, were very open at the back and created our own problems.

"We improved in the second half, but it's always difficult to pick it up when you've started poorly."

Quakers may have hoped to repeat York's high score and they had a chance inside the first two minutes through Hopson, but Walker saved with his feet at the beginning of a largely scrappy half.

Striker Kiernan Hughes-Mason proved the Poppies' danger man. After a Graeme Lee defensive header dropped kindly, his volley was well wide.

Liam Hatch, returning after suspension, was beaten to a Hopson ball by Patrick Noubissie and from the resulting corner Lee headed wide and soon after there was an escape for both teams.

First, referee Steve Bratt played on when centre-back Moses Swaibu appeared to handle in the penalty area, and then at the other end Hughes-Mason beat Sam Russell, but the shot rolled wide.

Hughes-Mason wasted another chance as Kettering launched a counter attack. He latched on to a long punt down the middle and beat Paul Arnison for pace, but blasted off target with only Russell to beat.

At least the keeper at the opposite end was kept occupied. Walker saved a close-range Hatch header as he rose to meet a free-kick from Kris Taylor who was given dead-ball responsibilities with Marc Bridge-Wilkinson serving a one-match ban.

Taylor made a superbly-timed sliding tackle to take the ball off David Bridges' toes just as the midfielder was about to shoot from 16 yards.

Taylor was again at left-back in the absence of Aaron Brown who should be available for Saturday's trip to Grimsby Town in the FA Trophy, but Arnison will be suspended after picking up a booking last night.

Occasional chances for both sides continued after the break with the first falling to the hosts. Josh Dawkin's low cross found Robbie Dance who waltzed in from the right, but side-footed over from 15 yards before a linesman denied Darlington a goal, ruling that Sol Davis' clearance had not been over the goal-line after Lee's header.

That sparked a decent spell for Darlington with substitute Adam Reach causing problems on the left.

Hatch had a fierce shot saved before Reach reacted quickest to a Rundle cross by back-heeling at goal, but the opportunist effort was deflected wide.

Russell's first save of the evening came when calmly collecting Noubissie's low strike, but, typically, the last touch of the game saw Walker diving full-length to his left to keep out a Hopson free-kick.

The save ensured a scoreless draw and a huge cheer from the home fans greeted the final whistle as they celebrated an against-the-odds result.

MATCHFACTS

Bookings: Davis (24, foul); Arnison (54, foul); Hughes-Mason (73, foul); Ifil (90, foul)

Referee: Stephen Bratt (West Midlands) 7

Attendance: 924

Entertainment: 2/5

Kettering Town (4-3-3): WALKER 7; Noubissie 6, Ifil 7, Swaibu 6, Davis 7; Navarro 6, Pryor 6, Bridges 5; Dance 6 (Jones 75), Hughes-Mason 5 (Cross 90), Dawkin 7.

Darlington (4-4-1-1): Russell 6; Arnison 6, Miller 7, LEE 7, Taylor 7; McReady 7, Chandler 5, Atkinson 5 (Reach 56, 7), Rundle 6; Hopson 6, Hatch 5. Subs (not used): Nixon (gk), Sanchez-Munoz, Harrison, J Gray

Man of the match

LAURIE Walker - The Kettering keeper was equal to anything Darlington managed