A Calvin Zola goal three minutes from time gave Crewe Alexandra all three points. Zola, fresh from scoring twice against Grimsby Town at the weekend, looked dangerous for much of the game. His strong presence up front and the ability to get balls down on the edge of the area was always a cause for concern. Darlington though were much improved following the disappointing performance in their last outing. The second half in particular saw Quakers up the tempo and on another night they could easily have gotten something out of this encounter.
Darlington handed a start to loan signings Nathan Porritt and Jordan Cook whilst new boy Rikki Bains made the bench. Elsewhere skipper Steve Foster was absent while Chris Lumsdon and Jeff Smith dropped to the bench.
The visitors always seemed to have the edge during the opening period. Zola and Joel Grant were a handful. However it was towards the end of the half that it really opened up for them. A few minutes before the break they had two decent chances to take the lead. Twice though Darlington managed to get something in the way to deny them. Quakers battled throughout and carved out a few chances themselves in the first half but did better after the break.
Darlington's first real chance to send a decent cross into the box arrived on twenty-seven minutes. Paul Arnison's right wing delivery resulted in a corner kick for Quakers. Moments later Darlington could have got their noses in front. Lee Thorpe nodded down on the edge of the area to allow David Dowson to pick up possession. His low cross into the box spun off Harry Worley's foot and just past the post. Gary Smith was next to have a go. His shot though was blasted off target.
A pass from Cook into the feet of Dowson on the edge of the area unlocked a small gap for Gary Smith to drag a low shot wide on thirty-four minutes. Shortly afterwards at the other end Aman Verma's powerful shot from outside the area had to be pushed over the bar by David Knight as Crewe resumed their attacking ways.
Five minutes before the break Crewe saw a shot deflected narrowly wide. Darlington's defence was split with an excellent through ball by Billy Jones to Grant down the left. He passed low to Verma on the edge of the area who saw his shot, which was on target, take a telling deflection and go behind for a corner. Moments later Grant was involved again as he played a great low ball across Darlington's six yard box looking for Zola. Before the forward could put his side ahead, and he would have done, Mark Bower got something on the ball to put it behind for another corner.
Quakers introduced new boy Rikki Bains in place of Arnison at half time and Crewe were nearly made to pay for not making the most of their first half efforts. Within fifty seconds of the half starting Darlington were on the attack. Thorpe managed to get a fortunate bounce off a Crewe player and it allowed him to run at goal and unleash a powerful shot which Dave Button pushed away for a corner.
The positive start to the second half continued for Darlington. Bower's high ball into the box found Thorpe. From a difficult angle he turned and smashed a shot goalwards. However he got under the ball and it flew harmlessly off target. It was a decent start however and importantly it stemmed a Crewe side who, until half time at least, seemed to be getting closer to a goal. A few minutes later Darlington threatened to break through the middle.
Crewe responded to their opponents good spell by hitting the bar through Zola at the other end on fifty-seven minutes. The second half though was a better affair from a Darlington perspective. The home side got into the face of Crewe and made things more of a rush for them. Nathan Porritt whistled a low shot narrowly wide on seventy-minutes as the game remained deadlocked but there for the taking.
The increased tempo from Darlington made things more difficult for Crewe after the break. It was also a big step up from the weekend's efforts. Despite this Colin Todd's men were still left seeking their first point of the season at the full time whistle. Zola was in the right place to convert a touch from Anthony Elding after a corner was headed back into a crowded penalty area. It was his fourth goal of the season and condemned Darlington to another defeat.
