One to forget as run comes to end

Three days after one of the most famous performances in the club's history, Quakers produced a display which needs to be quickly forgotten.

Bennett made six changes to the team which won at the City Ground, but there were only two changes from the team which drew with York last Saturday.

Quakers have developed a bad habit, in that they are becoming slow starters in away games.

They were caught cold by Shrewsbury, who hadn't won at home this season until Saturday, and they didn't show any signs of waking up until the second half.

Their first-half display was similar to those at Forest, Southend and Rochdale when they were lacklustre and uninventive, and Bennett is having to work hard at half time to lift his players for the second half.

Dutch keeper Frank van der Geest proved again why Bennett rates him so highly, and should be excused any blame. The tall keeper pulled off some good saves, especially in the first half.

It was disappointing to see the seven-game unbeaten run come to an end in such a fashion, and few players came out with much credit.

Maybe it was tiredness, complacency, or maybe that Shrewsbury battled more than them in the first half.

After all, it would have been an easy team talk for Shrewsbury manager Kevin Ratcliffe after Quakers' exploits in midweek. Whatever the reason, Bennett warned his players about those possibilities before the game started.

And now the new boss faces another early test to his management skills - how to raise the players after a defeat. The signs are that he has a good chance of doing just that.

He has managed to get some good performances out of them so far.

"I knew my first defeat was going to come sooner or later," said Bennett.

"But I'm disappointed in the way it came, because we expected to go there and win. If we'd held out for a 0-0 draw at half-time, we'd have gone on and won.

"I made changes to the team from Wednesday, but the players I brought back should have been firing on all cylinders, but they weren't in the first half. We were slow, and our ball control and our passing were poor, and we didn't get back into the game until the last fifteen minutes of the half.

"The second half was too late, even though it was encouraging and much better. If we'd played in the first half like we did in the second, we wouldn't have had any problems.

"We can't keep giving teams a goal start, and for me to go in the dressing room at half-time and organising them.

"To some teams, maybe that would be a good performance, but for us, that wasn't up to the standards we've set ourselves. But if we keep going the way we have from the start of the season, then we won't have a problem."

Bennett resisted the temptation to criticise match referee Scott Mathieson about the penalty award, but there is a general feeling in the Quakers' camp that decisions are generally going against them this season.

"From where I was sitting, I couldn't tell. According to the referee, Adam Reed took off Sam Aiston's shirt and then pushed him."

The warning signs were there after just four minutes when Nigel Jemson sliced open the Darlington defence for Michael Brown to pull a shot wide.

And then Glenn Naylor left a backpass short for Leon Drysdale to latch on to and poke past the post.

Former Sunderland winger Aiston caused Reed problems in the early stages, and it was a clash between the two which brought the controversial penalty - the fourth against Quakers this season - after 20 minutes.

Aiston dribbled past Reed from the left wing, and went down inside the area even though Quakers claimed the offence was outside.

After consulting his linesman, Mr Mathieson pointed to the spot, from which Jemson scored for the second successive Saturday.

Van der Geest then palmed the ball away from Brown.

Aiston twice made good runs down the left but produced a poor finish, before Quakers almost equalised. Gray found Stuart Elliott, playing in a right midfield role, and he forced a good save out of Ian Dunbavin.

Within five minutes of the restart, Jesper Hjorth came on for Gary Himsworth, a move which seemed to inject some purpose and tempo into the performance.

And the Dane nearly levelled with a right-foot shot from the edge of the box, but the ball went over the top.

Then Quakers had further cause to question the officials when Naylor was adjudged to be marginally offside when he scored with a left-foot shot.

At this stage though they had more of the possession, without looking really threatening. Lee Nogan headed wide, and was denied by a great tackle from Iain Jenkins.

And after 75 minutes, Nogan came the closest yet when he flicked a cross-cum-shot from third sub Lenit Zezu against the bar.

After van der Geest made a good save at the feet of Ryan Lowe, Reed thought he should have had a penalty when he claimed he was shoved in the last minute of stoppage time.

But it was that sort of day - one which Darlington fans won't want to see again in too much of a hurry.