Praise for the referee from David Hodgson occurs about as often as whales swim down the River Thames, but the Darlington manager's gratitude was entirely justified following Saturday's win at Oxford United.

In opting not to send off Quakers' Simon Johnson in first half injury time, when the score was 0-0, referee Grant Hegley showed remarkable leniency that many others in his position would not have done. In doing so he handed Darlington a lifeline which they took full advantage of.

Having already been booked, Johnson conceded a foul after use of the elbow, but Hegley only gave the former Leeds forward a stern talking to.

It proved a pivotal moment as Quakers went on to dominate the second half and, almost inevitably, Johnson was on target.

Jonjo Dickman opened the scoring with his second of the season to set up a rare Darlington away victory that takes them up to seventh.

"Had I been in the opposition's dug-out I would have been screaming for Simon to be sent off," admitted Hodgson.

"I have got to give the referee a massive amount of praise because he was the one that kept the game intact, certainly for us, that is for sure.

"Simon raised his elbow and caught their guy. It was a major decision but it was the common sense decision because I do not believe it was deliberate use of the elbow.

"However, he did make contact and the referee dealt with it in a very civilised manner and used his common sense. I shook his hand and told him 'you are the reason we have won today'."

But in focusing on the match official Hodgson succeeded in deflecting attention away from himself as, after Hegley kept his red card in his pocket, the second factor in swinging the game in Quakers' favour was the manager's half-time tactical switch.

Midfielder Phil Stamp went off injured with a stomach strain but sub Matty Appleby was overlooked in favour of striker Akpo Sodje as Hodgson ditched 4-5-1, or 4-3-3 depending on how you viewed the formation, in favour of 4-4-2.

It had an immediate effect as within seconds of the restart Quakers were 1-0 after Dickman ran on to a through ball and finished well.

That goal set the tone for the remainder of a second half which saw Quakers score once more but it was a far cry from the game's opening exchanges when Kyle Lafferty was isolated at the head of a 4-5-1 formation as Darlington struggled against an average team with a poor home record.

Oxford left winger Andy Burgess was a real threat. His skill on the half hour took him past Ryan Valentine and almost created the first goal but his cross was headed directly at Kasper Schmeichel by Leo Roget.

But it was just after this chance that Darlington began to cause Oxford problems with Johnson and Carlos Logan's pace becoming real assets.

Logan won Quakers' first corner and from the second Shelton Martis came close to scoring but his lob landed on the roof of the net.

From another set piece minutes later Joe Kendrick saw a powerful header impressively saved by keeper Chris Tardif as Darlington ended the half on top.

The hosts had lost five of their previous six home games, so any belief they had disappeared as soon as Dickman found the net from 18 yards two minutes after the restart.

Dickman's first-time shot signalled the beginning of a half in which Darlington proved their promotion credentials.

From this point Quakers were comfortable and could have scored more; Lafferty was desperately unlucky with a 20 yard drive that spun back towards goal off Tardif's gloves but the ball hit the outside of the post.

And when Oxford did find a way through a defence superbly marshalled by Martis and Matt Clarke, the talented Schmeichel was again in top form.

Two saves inside the 75th minute - proving equal to a long-range Lee Mansell drive and a Eric Sabin close-range shot - came when Quakers were only one up but worthy of more.

The hard-working Lafferty had two more efforts stopped by Tardiff while Ryan Valentine chipped a shot straight into the keeper's hands when he was acres off his line.

Although Quakers only performed for the last hour, the standard of League Two means that is often enough and such was Darlington's superiority in the second half it could, and should, have been more than two.

The second goal finally came in the third minute of injury time.

Johnson dispossessed Mansell midway in his own half, dribbled around the advancing keeper and his shot trickled over the line after Mark E'Beyer almost blocked the effort.

"Not that I wanted to rub anyone's nose in it, but we could have had more goals. We should have scored more because we had the opportunities, but I'm not going to complain because this victory is crucial," said Hodgson.

"We could have won by three of four but it was not the fault of people missing chances, it was the final ball that let us down.

"Jonjo scored a great goal and could have had a hat-trick, that's how many chances we had."

Darlington are three points worse off now than they were at the same stage last season, but this performance and current run - one defeat in nine - indicates they have very chance of going one better than the class of 2004/05.

It was at this point last season when they recorded the first of three defeats in six games, 2-0 at a strong Southend, that ultimately cost a play-off spot.

But this Saturday, Darlington host 18th placed Mansfield Town so they have a great opportunity to maintain their good run by winning back-to-back games for the first time this season.

Result: Oxford United 0, Darlington 2.

Read more about the Quakers here.