Second-bottom Darlington suffered another defeat in their final game of 2023, beaten for a third time this season by Scarborough Athletic.

Harry Green’s second-half goal was enough to secure victory at Blackwell Meadows for the play-off contenders, who also defeated Quakers 2-0 on Boxing Day and 2-1 in an FA Cup tie in September.

Quakers’ performance was again insipid and did little to convince anyone in attendance that they can avoid relegation.

They remain eight points from safety and, on this basis, they are going down not with a fight but with a whimper.

Among those looking on was former Darlington Martin Gray, who told The Northern Echo earlier today that he would like to return to the club for the remainder of the season without payment.

Quakers then released a statement saying they have turned down his application.

But any hopes Danny Rose - in caretaker charge after Josh Gowling’s sacking - had of being handed the job on a permanent basis were surely extinguished by the team’s pathetic performance, lacking in any fight and precious little quality.

Soon after the match started it stopped again, pausing for 21 minutes due to an assistant referee sustaining an injury. A supporter answered an SOS on the public address system for a qualified official.

The incident was one of the few noteworthy moments of a drab afternoon.

A rare scoring opportunity saw Scarborough striker Aiden Rutledge head over from an Alex Purver cross.

Rutledge opened the scoring when the teams met in Boxing Day’s low-key affair, and this one was similarly lacking in entertainment.

Darlington moved the ball around nicely without hurting Scarborough, who started the second half stronger and with more intent.

Not long after a Luca Colville volley was deflected wide, the visitors were 1-0 ahead when Green added to his Boxing Day goal by smashing home.

The goal came after a throw-in on the right, taken by Finlay Barnes. The ball was fed back to him by Colville, Barnes got to the byline and pulled it back for Green to score from around 12 yards.

As on Boxing Day, there was not a huge difference between the teams. While the visitors were not particularly dominant, they did enough to contain Quakers.

And on a rare occasion when the hosts got into the penalty area, Scarborough goalkeeper Ryan Whitley easily dealt with a tame shot by Cameron Salkeld, an effort typical of Darlington’s weak threat.

There was no final hurrah, just a lot of passing leading nowhere before the final whistle blew on the match and 2023, a truly dreadful year for Darlington.

Referee: Thomas Wilson

Attendance: 1,605

Darlington: Taylor; Hedley, Lawlor, Siddik (Lees 67), Sukar; Platt, Liddle; Ngandu (Nelson 64), Hatfield, Rivers (Williams 46); Salked. Subs not used: Lindley, Asante

Scarborough Athletic: Whitley; Weledji, Gooda, Thornton, Brown; Colville, Purver, Wiles; Barnes, Rutledge (Durose 85), Green (Tear 76). Subs not used: Cracknell, Mulhern, Qualter