Darlington manager Martin Gray was pleased with his team’s performance even though their interest in the Doodson League Cup ended with a 3-1 defeat at Ossett Town on Tuesday night.

MG left all of last Saturday’s starting eleven at home, and fielded only two players who were on the bench at Salford – keeper Jim Provett and defender (on this occasion) Adam Nowakowski.

The big plus to come out of the evening was that Amar Purewal came through his comeback game unscathed. “I was pleased for Amar,” said MG. “He’s had to wait a long time to start playing again, but happily he didn’t suffer any reaction. We always aimed to give him an hour, to ease him back in gently. It was a big step forward for him.”

Purewal won’t be on the bus to Sutton Coldfield this Saturday, because he’s on duty, with the club’s blessing, for Panjab in their friendly against Leicester’s Academy.

Most of the players in the side were youngsters and MG said; “It was a great experience for them to play in a cup tie at this level. They put in plenty of effort, and didn’t disgrace themselves. The main thing was, that we didn’t suffer any injuries or sendings off. I was pleased with the lads we brought in, Nathan Evans and Harvey Saunders.”

MG will now start preparing his squad for the trip to Sutton Coldfield on Saturday.