A determined Darlington secured a second successive win with a goal coming in each half against Aldershot.

Quakers followed up Tuesday's 1-0 win at Lincoln with a 2-0 win at The Northern Echo Darlington Arena and again Danny Carlton was on the scoresheet.

He bagged the winner on Tuesday, and his second half strike today wrapped up the points after teenager Curtis Main had put Quakers ahead in first half injury time.

It means Darlington have won back-to-back games for the first time since the end of January and are now nine points off the play-offs.

The win came despite two enforced changes to the side that beat Lincoln.

Franz Burgmeier and Main, in for the suspended Liam Hatch, were both called on and Burgmeier tried to mark his return to action with an early goal from distance but the Liechtestein international screwed his effort wide.

He was back in the line-up after missing five games with a thigh strain, and the shot came seconds after Tim Ryan had seen a volley blocked in the penalty area.

Aldershot's first real chance saw Quakers keeper Andy Oakes pull off a smart save after Jake Robinson's effort had deflected off Darlington captain Steve Foster.

It was a similar situation to the goal Quakers conceded during last week's defeat at Port Vale, an equaliser that Foster had the last touch on.

Darlington quickly had the Shots under pressure with a period that severely tested the visitors' defence.

An inswinging Burgmeier corner was punched away from under his own crossbar by keeper Mikhael Jaimez-Ruiz, but Aldershot struggled to clear.

Another Burgmeier corner led to Carlton firing towards goal from a narrow angle, the effort was blocked by Scott Davies who raised his hands but fell to the ground clutching his face.

As Davies landed off the pitch, play continued but a startling piece of gamesmanship by Davies resulted in the game being stopped just as Darlington were creating some momentum.

The Aldershot midfielder came back on to the pitch and then laid down again so that referee Andy Haines would call on the physio.

Oakes' second save of the day was even more impressive than the first, tipping over Andy Sandell's driven free-kick just before the half hour mark.

Kirk Hudson shot wide when off balance after being teed up by Davies who made an unmarked run into Oakes' penalty area to latch on to a long ball as the Shots showed signs of causing Quakers problems.

Seconds later Oakes made two saves in quick succession, both to deny John Grant, with Foster making an uncharacteristic error between the chances.

First Oakes got down low to save after Grant had picked up the ball and fired at goal from an angle, and then Foster allowed himself to be dispossessed by Grant whose second shot was also stopped by Oakes.

Aldershot had finished the half on top, but just as it appeared set to end goal-less, Main popped up unmarked to put Darlington ahead deep into injury time.

After a Burgmeier corner was only partially cleared, Alan White headed the ball into Main's path and the unmarked 16-year-old kept his composure to coolly put Quakers ahead from six yards.

Aldershot felt Main was offside, and manager Gary Waddock made his feelings clear to Haines as the players left the field seconds later.

But that will not have bothered Main who had scored his second goal for the club, a month after bagging the winner late on against Grimsby.

Nine minutes after the restart Main was withdrawn, replaced by winger Adam Griffin as Darlington switched to a 4-4-1-1 formation.

That meant Burgmeier playing behind lone striker Carlton who soon fired a volley at goal but failed to get a clean connection and Jaimez-Ruiz saved easily.

Carlton then tried to chip Jaimez-Ruiz from an angle, but saw his dinked attempt from an angle sail wide of the goal as Darlington stepped up the tempo.

Griffin's first involvement was to chip a cross to the far post where Burgmeier hooked it back across before the Shots' Kirk Hudson scrambled clear from under the crossbar under pressure from Griffin.

Another chance came Quakers' way when Burgmeier chased a high ball but just before he attempted to lob the onrushing Jaimez-Ruiz, defender Anthony Charles managed to get a foot in and clear the danger.

It was an impressive tackle, but not quite as impressive as Foster's to rob Marvin Morgan of the ball just a minute later.

With Morgan bearing down on goal, he was about to pull the trigger when Foster slid in to deny the Aldershot striker.

The tackle proved crucial as seconds later Carlton made it 2-0 with a tidy finish.

Some clever passes in and around the Shots' penalty area resulted in Ricky Ravenhill playing in Carlton who passed the ball across Jaimez-Ruiz and in off the post for his third goal in three games.

Although Aldershot had had their moments, Darlington were the only side that looked likely to find the net after the break.

And they almost did it again within ten minutes, but this time Carlton managed to miss an open goal, literally.

Somehow, unbelievably, the striker spooned the ball high and wide after dispossessing Charles inside the penalty area.

Keeper Jaimez-Ruiz was out of position but Carlton went for power over precision and managed to miss an empty net from eight yards.

The crowd did not know whether to laugh or cry as Carlton held his head in his hands and kicked a goal post as he ambled around the penalty area wondering how he had managed to miss the target.

He missed a similar chance in the 1-0 win at Lincoln on Tuesday and also missed an open goal in the victory over Grimsby last month.

But it was not to matter, a simple Oakes save from a Morgan header aside, Darlington coasted throughout the remainder of the game to record victory.

Carlton was also named man of the match following a hard-working display that deserved a goal, but he will know it should have been more than one.

NORTHERN ECHO