The visitors had arrived late due to being stuck in traffic meaning the match did not started until 3.37pm, and at the break it was Quakers in the driving seat at 2-1 up and Chorley a man down.
But dreadful Darlington defending led to the concession of two-second half goals, and they were unable to cause Chorley any problems. In fact, so well protected was that goalkeeper Matt Urwin had little to occupy his time after the break.
Given Chorley’s travel issues, perhaps it was no surprise Darlington were sharper out of the blocks, going 1-0 up when Scott Barrow and Aidan Rutledge combined on the left, before a Will McGowan pass enabled Cedric Main to turn and fire low into the net from inside the penalty area.
Barrow started at left-back as Darlington were unable to select new signing Josh Scott – Quakers say the FA failed to grant international clearance in time, a source of frustration for manager Steve Watson.
He had to reshuffle his intended starting XI – Barrow had been due to play centre-back, so Elliott Forbes moved back from midfield, and Tom Allan came into the starting XI from the bench.
It was 1-1 just before the half-hour mark, Tom Carr ghosting in to meet a Warren Clarke pass and fire calmly into the net.
There was little between the teams in the first 45 minutes, with both goalkeepers making saves withing a few minutes.
First, Urwin tipped over the bar a Jack Maskell header after the forward met Barrow’s cross to the far post. And then Peter Jameson pushed wide Michael Calverley header after a corner.
But just before half-time, Chorley’s Milan Lalkovic was red-carded following an off-the-ball altercation with Barrow.
Darlington were 2-1 ahead when Will Hatfield curled the ball inside far post from the edge of the box to make it 2-1 and put Quakers into a seemingly strong position.
But some poor defending was Darlington’s undoing after break.
Early in the second half, ten-man Chorley levelled thanks to dreadful defending. Adam Blakeman’s corner was floated over, and Quakers stood off as Jack Sampson flicked the ball home.
More weak defending at a set-piece saw Blakeman tee up the third Chorley goal, his free-kick from the left wasn’t dealt with and Scott Wilson scrambled home. However, the initial free-kick awarded against Toby Lees appeared harsh.
It came with 21 minutes to play, time for Quakers to mount a comeback against ten men, but the closest Darlington came to an equaliser was when a deflection wrongfooted Urwin after a Tom Allan shot and the ball bounced off a post.
Due to the number of injuries affecting Darlington’s small squad, they were only able to name five substitutes, all of them youngsters and among them new signing Ellis Stanton
Ultimately, Quakers had plenty of possession but they struggled to hurt the visitors for most of the second half and slumped to a deserved defeat.
Referee: Mark Bell
Attendance: 1,603
Darlington (4-3-3): Jameson; Hedley, Lees, Forbes, Barrrow; Allan, Hatfield, McGowan; Maskell, Main, Rutledge (Stanton 71). Subs not used: Murray Mortimer, Maddison, Kirokiro
Chorley (4-4-2): Urwin; Henley, Ellis, Wilson, Blakeman; Lalkovic, Horbury (Whitehouse 88), Calverley, Clarke; Sampson (Ibbitson 70), Carr (Nolan 88). Subs not used: Smith, Hewitt, Moore, Walker
