Early goals in each half helped Aldershot Town to a comfortable victory over Darlington. Andy Sandell's goal after half an hour was sandwiched in between an early strike from Marvin Morgan before the lively Louie Soares put the game beyond Quakers at the start of the second period.

Aldershot carved out numerous chances during the opening forty-five minutes. Whilst the introductions of Jamie Chandler and David Dowson improved Quakers after the break the home side fully deserved their win. Soares and Morgan proved a handful for Darlington throughout the game as they played pivotal parts in the Shots win.

Morgan had already seen a header go over the bar before he put his side ahead after just three minutes. He did a lot better with his next chance as he got clear of the Darlington defence down the right and drilled a low shot past David Knight.

Soares and Morgan continued to link up well in the opening stages and Kirk Hudson blasted over from a decent angle on eight minutes. Quakers managed to finally get a hold of the ball for a spell not long afterwards and Paul Arnison's cross from the right found Jeff Smith who fired a volley over the bar.

Aldershot continued to press forward with Knight making a comfortable drop to his left to gather Ben Harding's low shot from twenty-five yards out. After half an hour though the home side finally doubled their advantage. Harding's free kick was sent into the area and Knight seemed to loose the ball which dropped for Andy Sandell to finish.

Five minutes before the half time break Soares somehow missed a chance to make it 3-0 as Morgan turned provider. John Halls' cross from the right at the conclusion of the first forty-five minutes saw Adam Hinshelwood glance the ball wide of the far post with his head as the openings kept coming.

Aldershot however were not to be denied a third. Quakers started the second half slowly as they did the first and were punished. On forty-seven minutes Hudson scampered clear down the left and crossed low to the back post where Soares was on hand to dispatch Aldershot's third of the afternoon.

Despite the set back Darlington looked better in the second period. Lee Thorpe saw a header sent wide from Arnison's cross on fifty-three minutes and not long afterwards Dean Windass bought a good save from Mikhael Jaimez-Ruiz with a well struck free-kick. It was however the introductions of Sunderland pairing Jamie Chandler and David Dowson which really livened Darlington up.

Darlington though needed a good stop from Knight on sixty-three minutes to prevent themselves falling further behind. He made a superb flying save to keep out Morgan's header from a right wing cross. At the other end on seventy minutes Dowson found some space to run at Aldershot and hit a well struck shot from just outside the area at the Aldershot keeper who did well to beat the ball away.

A few minutes later Quakers made their final change of the afternoon as skipper Steve Foster was taken off in place of Matt Plummer.

Dowson continued to look lively since his arrival into the game and with six minutes left he pulled a goal back for Darlington. Windass released the youngster with a good through ball and he finished neatly. The late goal caused a few nerves for the home side. Quakers forced a late corner and there were groans when the fourth official held up four minutes of added time.

Aldershot though saw out time to claim a deserved three points. Quakers will look at a poor first half. They improved after the hour mark but as manager Colin Todd rightly pointed out afterwards Rome wasn't built in a day. Darlington will need to improve but given the club is here after a torrid summer is a miracle in itself.