Darlington 1-0 Burton Albion
An early Curtis Main strike was eventually enough to hand Darlington all three points. Visitors Burton Albion piled the pressure on after the break but, with their backs to the wall, Quakers held on with some valiant defending and managed to claim back-to-back home wins and a first clean sheet in the league. Whilst the pressure was constant during the second half it was the hosts who hurt their opponents more.
After three consecutive games on the road Darlington finally made a much needed return to home soil. Visitors Burton Albion enjoyed more of the possession for the majority of the game but it was Quakers, especially in the opening twenty-minutes, who looked more dangerous. Darlington managed to break on the Brewers a number of times to carve out some good openings during the first forty-five minutes. After the break however it was all Burton Albion. The visitors kept the pressure on but Darlington defended for their lives.
Barely five minutes into proceedings and Mor Diop brought a Burton corner kick clear. He played a good ball into the middle for the advancing Simon Thomas who nodded it on to Gary Smith. The midfielder couldn't quite get full control and Artur Krysiak managed to close the angle down.
Darlington took the lead a couple of minutes later. A foul on Diop saw Darlington win a free-kick. It found Nathan Mulligan inside the Burton box who played it back to teenager Main. The youngster did superbly to compose himself, create a better angle and drill the ball past the Burton keeper with an excellent shot.
It was a superbly taken goal and shortly afterwards Mulligan nearly added a second as he found space down the right flank. His cross was miss-hit but it nearly crept in over Krysiak's head at the far post. The Burton shot stopper never looked comfortable dealing with it but the ball was just too high and drifted over the crossbar for a goal-kick. On fourteen minutes Diop nearly connected with a Thomas cross from the left after the on-loan forward found space when his man slipped to the floor allowing him to put the ball into the box.
A poor clearance by the Brewers keeper nearly gave Darlington a chance for a long range second of the afternoon. His clearance did not get enough height and it flew out to David Davis. He connected from forty-yards out but the ball ended up just over the crossbar with Krysiak struggling to get back. The visitors continued to see more of the ball but were finding clear cut chances difficult to come by. Darlington were doing enough at the back to keep their opponents at bay. Five minutes before the half time whistle Ryan Austin lined up a free-kick which he fired goalwards. The ball was deflected behind for a corner kick as the visitors gave a taster of what was to come after the break.
During stoppage time Diop was clattered by Guy Branston whilst jumping for the ball. The French forward was left grounded by the incident and needed the attention of the club doctor and the physio. Thankfully he emerged for the second half but, as expected for a player still building his fitness, tired rapidly as the game went on. He kept going though until the seventy minute mark when he was eventually replaced.
By this time the Burton pressure had rapidly increased. Unlike the first half, where Quakers were able to break on their opponents to safety and chances, this time they were penned in. Richard Walker fired over the bar on fifty-one minutes before Michael Simpson's corner kick found Shaun Harrad at the near post. His shot too was off target. The visitors kept plugging away but Darlington, under relentless pressure, kept blocking and scrapping their way clear.
With just under quarter of an hour left Darlington nearly had a second against the run of play. Dan Groves, who replaced Nathan Mulligan after sixty-four minutes, saw a header cleared off the line by Tony James. A second goal would have broken the pressure by the visitors but instead it kept coming. A late free-kick from Greg Pearson only served to jangle the nerves of the home support even more. His shot though was blazed over the bar and Quakers survived to claim three points.
