Darlington leave it late to take point off Buxton on a long night under failing floodlights

And it came so close to being a maximum haul, with the hosts' leveller from the penalty spot being netted in the third minute of five in added time that became seven.

That was cruel for the Bucks who had led from the 54th minute, courtesy of Joe Ackroyd's first goal for the club, and they held on doggedly in the last 20 minutes through mounting home pressure, until a foul and the penalty award undid them.

Substitute Liddle, in the action for only a minute and with his first touch, struck home unerringly.

So there was no winner on the pitch but the animated crowd certainly was, as this entirely entertaining encounter grew ever more rousing and pulsating to its dramatic finale.

Such an evening was not unexpected as the background to the match was contrasting and therefore intriguing.

The Buxton revival had reached five games unbeaten while the clean-sheet record had been extended to 529 minutes.

On the other hand, the fourth-placed Quakers, league leaders in January, had suffered unexpected defeats at lowly duo Boston and Leamington in their most recent outings.

The Bucks' starting 11 was unchanged, while on the bench the recovered Sam Osborne came in for Declan Poole and he replaced the slightly injured Brad Jackson just past the hour.

By then, however, the winger had provided the assist for Buxton's goal.

Theo Richardson's accurate delivery and Josh Granite's pass began the move which was finished by Ackroyd's deflected shot that looped over former Silverlander Tom Taylor.

A tad fortunate indeed and the Bucks' luck certainly seemed to be in 10 minutes later when another ex-Silverlander, striker Jacob Hazel, struck the inside of a post with a fierce, 19-yard, centrally-placed free-kick.

Yet they were soon close to doubling the advantage as from a rapid counter, Diego de Girolamo, who had worked hard all evening, delivered a curling shot that was kept out of the net corner by Taylor's dive.

Mostly, however, it was the hosts on the attack with the defence, supplemented late on by sub Shaun Brisley, repelling wave after wave until the penalty award delighted the massed, raucous home crowd behind Richardson's goal, who to them had earlier become the pantomime villain.

The first half, curiously, was only 112 seconds old when the lights went out - for the second time in the evening and the third time this season - with the match resuming at 8.15pm, after which the teams settled to fast-moving, skilful, passing soccer on a perfect night of neither wind nor rain.

The Bucks made a promising start and from a right-flank move, Diego's 20-yard, low drive passed narrowly wide, while the Quakers were soon displaying their attacking prowess and in the 17th minute Lambert's ferocious, 25-yard rising drive forced the in-form Richardson into the save of the night by tipping the ball against the bar.

The hosts gradually established a majority of possession but the visitors' energetic pressing in midfield limited their effectiveness and Richardson's long-kicking to the flanks was a regular means of developing counter-attacks, while Jak McCourt twice caught the eye with splendidly accurate long passes to the right flank.

So overall an excellent effort, performance and point extended the unbeaten run to six versus a team determined to atone for recent setbacks.

For the record, the clean-sheet sequence ended at a remarkable 623 minutes - and a new one is now four minutes old.

Next up, Buxton travel on Saturday (3pm) to seventh-placed Chorley.