If Darlington are to be justly rewarded for their largely terrific campaign then a sharp upturn in form is required and fast.

With Hereford not playing due to MK Dons' LDV commitments and Stockport's match at Chester abandoned it was the perfect opportunity for Dave Penney's men to make some much needed ground on their nearest promotion rivals.

After spending almost the whole of the season in the promotion mix it's heartbreaking to see all the good work that has gone on since August slowly but surely begin to crumble, with the defence finally showing signs of cracking and a horrendous list of absentees in the forward line which now sees Julian Joachim the only recognised available attacker after Saturday's game.

Joachim partnered Richie Foran up front after Tommy Wright and Gregg Blundell failed fitness tests on Friday and Saturday respectively whilst unbelievably Guy Ndumbu-Nsungu picked up an injury in the warm up to stick the knife into the Quakers' rapidly thinning offensive options.

But Joachim and Foran hit it off and in the first half Darlington were excellent in the gradually deteriorating quagmire of a pitch at the Arena, the flank closest to the dugouts particularly on the brink of being unplayable after the recent torrential weather.

As Darlington's two most experienced attackers, the duo played intelligent football, linking up beautifully, countering decisively and venomously and were at the heart of the stack of opportunities created by the hosts versus a very competent Bradford side, still harbouring play off ambitions of their own as they flirt of the periphery of 7th spot.

Adhering to the norm however, it took Darlington five to ten minutes to establish themselves on proceedings and funnily enough the bad conditions almost seemed to be acting as a remedy to the teams flagging confidence providing a scrap which played to the strengths of many of the Darlington players, Ryan Valentine particularly benefiting with arguably one of his best games since returning from Wrexham, before he was replaced by Austin due to an injury incurred by a late tackle.

But it was another returning player that got the ball rolling for Darlo. Richie Foran's near post flick on from a 10th minute corner was adjudged to have struck the hand of Barry Conlon at the back post and to the disgruntlement of Stuart McCall a penalty was awarded, and dispatched emphatically - Clark Keltie thumping a textbook crisp strike straight down the middle.

After seemingly weeks of having to forge miraculous comebacks Darlington looked like seizing the early initiative themselves and should have added to the slender lead before the break with quality across the park and also a fighting spirit that made the second half demise even more of a head-scratcher.

Alan White was proving to be a menace in attack and he could have easily got himself a couple, particularly after 20 minutes when his outstretched head almost did enough to deceive the dodgy Scott Loach in the Bradford goal as it trickled just wide of the post from a Keltie free kick.

Keltie, playing his first game since late January, seemed to be well complimented by the industrious Kennedy and his license to plough forward saw two rasping efforts fire narrowly wide whilst Purdie and debutant Craig Nelthorpe on the wings were in the mood with fantastic verve and supply out wide.

But again lack of a clinical edge on front of goal gave Bradford a fighting chance as the visitors themselves showed plenty of intent when afforded the opportunity, Karl Nix's fizzing strike for over 20 yards veered just wide and offered as close to a first half goal as any of Darlington's near misses.

With Darlo's decimated side, with even Foran only recently returned from a lengthy spell on the treatment table and it showed with a very leggy second period from the Southend loanee, there was only Micky Cummins to call upon who could impose himself in the oppositions half so the importance of quickly establishing a lead was as pivotal as it has been all season.

But any hopes of this were dashed with in five minutes of the restart. He's not everyone's cup of tea but at this level and on his game there is no one who can touch Barry Conlon and he picked up where he left off at Bradford to give the what seems like progressively more jaded Steve Foster a torrid 45 minutes. After sublimely taking the ball down Conlon created acres of space and with the Darlington rearguard stretched, Nix's clever dummy from Johnson's spread across the box allowed Tom Penford to place a composed finish beneath the stranded Stockdale.

This was the catalyst that triggered Bradford into simply overpowering Darlington and the host were reduced to a shadow of their first half performance but most worryingly showed little resistance to the mid-tablers' second half annihilation.

After dictating the first period, Darlo never got a whisper and barring a couple of wild skewed clearances from the Bradford defence, one smashing off the underside of Loach's bar, they struggled to manufacture any chances at all.

However unlike previous weeks when poor performances were simply at fault Bradford's class was the decisive factor in this devastating and crucial loss. Doubtless spurred on by his indifferent reception 'fat man' Conlon gave the visitors the lead after 63 minutes stooping a header from a corner over Stockdale from a corner, albeit the marking on the clearest threat from a set piece must come into question.

It seems sadly ironic that the very man who was one season almost individually responsible for keeping the Quakers up has likely paralysed his twice former employers' chances of going up automatically.

Before he was crunched with a reckless Richie Foran challenge, borne purely out of frustration and hurt - for which Foran received a straight red and who's indiscipline burdens Darlington's attacking woes into effective oblivion, Joe Colbeck completed the rout firing a delicious volleyed shot past Stockdale at the far post after weaving through the challenges on edge of the box after lathing onto Conlon's knock down.

It's hard to fathom where it actually went wrong. The most accessible and probably right answer is Stuart McCall. His half time rallying call worked a treat and Bradford were good value for their win with a terrific second 45 minutes. It's perhaps pause for thought to compare the management styles of McCall and Penney and notice who gets the most positive reaction in these situations. McCall's more theatrical and flamboyant style clearly worked on Saturday but Penney's more mild mannered approach has too reversed two, two goal half time deficits in the previous two home games.

One thing's for certain it's do or die time for the Quakers. They've used up all their get-out-of-jail cards. They are now partially relying on other teams faltering as well as ameliorating themselves with tremendous haste. Hereford and Stockport are must win fixtures now more than ever but with so little choices in the forward line the Quakers are running out of time to reignite this dwindling campaign.