On Darlington's 4-1 FA Cup 4th Round replay victory over Chelsea at Feethams, way back in January 1958.
It's fair to say that this result was, and still is Darlington FC's best ever result. It stunned the nation, as Chelsea had just won the First Division (now the Premiership) for the first time only 3 years before hand. Their team had some great players, one such player was Jimmy Greaves.The result did not come out of the blue (excuse the pun), because in the first 4th Round meeting of the sides, Darlington took a shock 3-0 at Stamford Bridge, before being pulled back level at 3-3.
15,150 spectators turned out to see the English champions of 3 years previously take on the Quakers, a struggling Fourth Division side at the time. There was a huge scramble to get a good view, and the gates were opened at 12.30 (one and a half hours before kick-off) to accommodate for the thousands of extra fans.
Darlington's club talisman Ron Greener and Brian Henderson proved to be crucial in closing down the more talented Chelsea forwards.
In the 35th minute Darlington was sent wild when an attack down the left hand side accumulated in Tom Moran firing in an angled drive just inside of the far post, beating Chelsea 'keeper Matthews comprehensively.
It didn't take long for Chelsea to find a way back level. Just 3 minutes later, with McNichol scoring the goal.
The scores remained level at half time and at full time, and because of the draw in the first game; extra time was to be played.
As the game moved into extra time, Darlington seemed to be the team on top, they managed to dig deep and find energy from somewhere, whereas their opponents struggled the more the game progressed.
A fantastic six minute spell from Darlo saw them score three times, Moran got his second of the match before two colliery workers, David Carr and Ron Harbertson scoredto make Chelsea look distinctly average.
At the final whistle the newly crowned heroes of Darlington were mobbed by their adoring fans. Unfortunately, that was as good as got that year. In the next round Darlington were crushed 6-1 away at Wolves.
* Watch video footage of this game below:
