A PENALTY in added time denied Darlington their second victory of the weekend as South Shields snatched a draw at Blackwell Meadows.

Quakers were 2-1 up going into stoppage time when referee David Jones decided that Darlington defender Jake Lawlor had tripped Paul Blackett.

Blackett, converted for a point, just seconds after Finlay Barnes had almost made it 3-1 to Quakers.

It was a cruel end to a competitive and entertaining 90 minutes, one that Darlington could be satisfied with.

Assistant manager Darren Holloway said: “We can still take plenty of positives from the performance.

“The lads did really well to come back from a goal down to take the lead. Andrew Nelson is getting better all the time.”

Quakers thought they were worth a penalty on six minutes when Shields keeper Myles Boney seemed to push Andrew Nelson as they went for a left wing cross, but referee David Jones gave a goal kick.

Jones would continue to have a strong influence on the game.

Nelson was a danger for the Shields defence at this early stage, and when Kallum Griffiths crossed from the right, he headed over the top under pressure.

Shields took the lead on 20 minutes. Quakers loudly appealed for handball as the ball came down in their area, and the ball dropped for Luke James to fire low past Taylor from just inside the area.

However, the referee ruled that the handball wasn’t intentional, and keeper Tommy Taylor and striker Jacob Hazel were both booked for their protests.

Quakers levelled five minutes later, however, when skipper Tom Platt was tripped as he tried to latch on to a Griffiths pass in the box, and Jones pointed to the spot from where Mitch Curry notched his first goal for the club by sending the keeper the wrong way.

Darlington improved as the half went on, playing some nice football and showing a big improvement on their first couple of games this season.

They nearly got another goal when Barnes had a shot charged down and Hazel was inches from connecting to a Griffiths cross.

Hazel also put the ball in the net after Nelson’s indirect free kick for Boney picking up a back pass, but he was flagged offside.

But just on half time, centre half Jake Lawlor was in the right place to prevent a goal. A quick free kick up the middle by Shields found James in space. He managed to sidestep Taylor’s challenge, but Lawlor got back quickly to clear the forward’s effort off the line.

Darlington went into the lead for the first time straight after half time. Platt did well to ride two challenges on the left and roll the ball for Nelson to fire right-footed into the bottom left hand corner for his second goal in three days games.

It was almost 3-1 when Barnes, very impressive in his first game at Blackwell since joining on loan from York, played the ball inside for Griffiths to volley wide.

However, Shields nearly levelled when John Lufudu crossed from the right for sub Lirak Hasani to have a header well saved by Taylor.

Blackett should have beaten Taylor when he showed good control to pick up a ball from the left, but he toe-poked the ball wide.

Boney pushed wide a Hazel inswinging free kick, then he saved from Barnes at full stretch.

Just as Quakers looked as if they might hang on, in the first minute of stoppage time Lawlor was penalised for tripping James – although he seemed to get a toe on the ball – and the referee awarded a penalty that Blackett converted.