Darlington twice surrendered the lead and had to be content with a point in a draw with Rushden.

The visitors could have led in the opening 60 seconds when Gary Mills and Barry Hunter were both denied by Darlington keeper Andy Collett.

But the home side opened the scoring in the 51st minute when winger Richard Hodgson slotted home from close range.

The Diamonds levelled in the 55th minute when Stuart Gray's penalty beat Collett after Gary Pearson handled in the penalty area.

Darlington regained the upper hand in the 68th minute when Ian Clark curled the ball beautifully past Billy Turley from the edge of the area.

But the visitors restored parity for the second time with seven minutes remaining when Paul Hall struck from close range after Stuart Wardley had headed against the post.

Darlington: Collett, Valentine, Liddle, Pearson, Betts, Hodgson, Keltie, Nicholls, Wainwright, Clark, Conlon. Subs: Ford, Campbell, Sheeran, McGurk, Porter.

Rushden and Diamonds: Turley, Underwood, Hunter, Peters, Bignot, Mills, Wardley, Bell, Hall, Battersby, Burgess. Subs: Talbot, Sambrook, Duffy, Dempster.

Referee: S Baines (Derbyshire)