Start as you mean to go on, so they say and if Darlington adhere to that proverb they will enjoy a great season because Quakers began the season with a hard-earned opening day win - eventually.

Darlington deserved the three points purely on their second half performance which served to banish from the memory their opening 45 minutes of the season which had set the alarm bells ringing.

The game was delayed quarter of an hour because of heavy traffic due to an incident on the A1, but Darlington did not provide a decent opposition until well after the kick-off.

As the torrential rain lashed down in Cambridgeshire for most of the first half, Darlington managed to weather both the storm and the U's pressure before turning the game around finished the game as the better side while the three new boys all enjoyed varying degrees of success.

Matt Clarke was steady but sometimes clumsy; Ryan Valentine looked very able but it was Ashley Nicholls who stole the show with a tremendous winner.

He introduced himself to the Darlington fans by curling a 20-yard right-footed shot to mark his League debut in tremendous fashion.

Satisfied manager Tommy Taylor was pleased with the win, but warned there are some rough edges to smooth than need smoothing down.

"We still need to work a bit harder upfront, closing down defenders to stop them hitting the ball upfield," he said.

"You can't really complain when you win away from home. It would have been nice to win 2-0 and keep a clean sheet but people keep saying we have a bad away record, so let's start from today and put that right.

"I thought Nicholls had a comfortable game today, played a great, early, pass to Wainy who was unlucky with an excellent shot which hit the post."

With two home games in quick succession, Swansea on Tuesday and Oxford on Saturday, the win sets up Quakers for a great start to the season. Taylor admitted: "Winning today was a waste of time if we don't win again on Tuesday."

The hosts scored very early on, admittedly, a scrappy goal, but nonetheless, the sixth minute strike had been on the cards since the kick-off and it took Darlington quite some time to recover.

Cambridge fluffed a short corner but, in an otherwise good performance, Adam Rundle dallied and wasted the opportunity to clear which allowed the hosts to swing in a cross which should have been cleared but found it's way to the far post where Dave Kitson used his muscle to flick in.

Cambridge, a young side, were lively and put some good moves together which left the travelling 417 fans if it had been worth the journey.

But Darlington did eventually work their way back into the match with workhorse Neil Maddison hitting the bar with a free-kick and just before the break Quakers converted an impressive equaliser.

Craig Liddle lofted the ball forward to Barry Conlon on the edge of the area who knocked the ball into Ian Clark's path to smash home.

The goal lifted Darlington and were far more convincing in the second half, creating several scoring chances, with Wainwright being very unlucky when his 25-yard blast cannoned off the inside of the post.

But the winning goal came not long afterwards and it was one to savour for Nicholls.

The former Ipswich man picked up a cleared corner, looked for an opportunity to pass but instead chose to expertly place the ball beyond the keeper from the edge of the penalty area.

It was a strike any player would treasure, especially so as it came on his debut.

With Darlington on top and the hosts looking tired, the one-goal advantage could easily been added to, however, Kitson almost grabbed a point when he crashed a header onto the bar in the last minute.

A draw would have been very harsh on Quakers who deserved the three points for a hard-working second half display which demonstrated that Darlington have it within them to be a force.

Mental toughness and the ability to open up defences are both sorely needed qualities required by any side wishing to achieve anything this season, especially those teams which begin games poorly.

Darlington must be credited with displaying these qualities so early in the campaign, and, perhaps, it's a sign of what's in store for the team this season.

However, the win was tinged with the injury to first choice keeper Andy Collett who took a blow to the ribs shortly before the break which meant he was unable to reappear for the second half.

He was taken to hospital on Saturday evening and may not be fit for Tuesday night's match.

Collett was replaced by Chris Porter but the stand-in keeper had a change of his own to make after two minutes when the referee ordered him to replace his white keeper's top as it clashed with Quakers' new pale grey away shirts.

Bearing in mind Darlington's first choice kit is white, it remains to be seen how the new second choice colours affect Quakers in future away games.