Bristol Rovers will need to avoid history repeating itself on Sunday a decade on from their last FA Cup encounter with Darlington, if Paul Tisdale has hopes of progressing into the next round of the competition.
On November 6, 2010, Darlington – then of the Conference Premier – hosted the Gas in the first round of the FA Cup.
At the time, a relegation-threatened Rovers were going through a tricky spell under Paul Trollope and came into the game seeking rejuvenation, however the outcome of the result did quite the opposite.
Darlington’s Michael Brough put the hosts ahead with a powerful 20-yard drive before Rovers’ Will Hoskins equalised immediately with a low free-kick.
Hoskins was withdrawn through injury shortly afterwards and the visitors struggled to cope without their top scorer at the time.
In the second-half, Gary Smith tapped in the rebound after Wayne Brown diverted the ball onto his own post to give Darlington the win on a miserable day at the office for the Gas.
Just over a month later, Trollope was relieved of his duties as manager of the club after five seasons in charge at the Mem and from that point on the season began to unravel for Rovers.
On January 10, Dave Penney was appointed to steer the ship away from the drop zone. Unfortunately, he was unsuccessful in his efforts and was sacked after less than two months in charge as the club languished dangerously low in 23rd in the League One table.
Darren Patterson took over as caretaker manager for the rest of the season, but despite his best efforts, he was unable to keep the Gas up and relegation to League Two was confirmed on May 7 2011 after a 2-1 away defeat to Colchester United.
The rest of Darlington’s season was quite the opposite to Rovers’ forgettable campaign. Although they progressed to the next round of the cup, their journey was short-lived and the Quakers were ultimately undone by York City after a 0-2 home defeat in the second round.
After being relegated from League Two the year prior, Darlington finished the season in seventh place, narrowly missing out on a play-off berth. However, they did manage to win the FA Trophy with a 1-0 victory over Mansfield Town at Wembley, in front of 24,000 fans.
Tisdale is confident ahead of his first home game as Gas boss, with a three-division gap between the sides placing Rovers as heavy favourites ahead of the match at the Mem.
However, National league North Darlington are hopeful they can pull off another shock result after dispatching League One side Swindon Town at the County Ground in the first round three weeks ago.
And Rovers will be desperate lightning does not strike twice 10 years on from their last meeting with the Quakers.
