Cambridge fell to a narrow 1-0 defeat at Darlington ending a two game unbeaten run. A Liam Hatch tap in was enough to divide the teams.

Liam Hatch scored the only goal of the game in the 67th minute with a well-placed header and it was enough for the hosts to claim all three points.

The first half was closely contested but neither side was able to create many clear-cut chances in front of goal.

However, Cambridge had a glorious opportunity to claim the lead on the stroke of half-time.

Darlington keeper Sam Russell failed to get enough distance on his punched clearance and the ball fell to Adam Marriott who fired wide despite having an empty net to aim at.

And the U's were made to rue that miss as Darlo piled on the pressure after the half-time break.

Ian Miller headed narrowly wide while team-mate Marc Bridge-Wilkinson forced Cambridge goalkeeper Simon Brown into a diving save with a curling 25-yard free-kick.

The hosts finally got the breakthrough they were looking for in the 67th minute when Brown failed to clear properly from Chris Senior's headed effort and Hatch was on hand to head into an empty net.

The Quakers almost doubled their advantage just minutes later but Bridge-Wikinson's powerful free-kick crashed against the top of the crossbar.

Cambridge kept pushing for an equaliser but they were unable to find chink in Darlington's armour and the scoreline remained unchanged.