Darlington 4 Boston United 1

Quakers crushed Boston at Heritage Park, scoring four goals inside 15 minutes to register their first win of the season.

Terry Galbraith, Liam Hardy and Mark Beck were all on the scoresheet, but midfielder Phil Turnbull declined the chance to claim his first goal for the club.

Many fans that Turnbull should have won the EvoStik League’s player of the year award last season, but didn’t receive the recognition because he didn’t hit the back of the opposition net.

And straight after Saturday's game he said that he didn’t want to be credited with the third goal in Quakers’ excellent win because of the big deflection the ball took off Boston defender Herve Pepe-Ngoma on its way into the net.

“I’ll only take the credit when I score a proper goal,” he said. “The ball took a big deflection off their defender, I was only trying to put the ball into the box, and I wasn’t aiming for goal. Hopefully a proper goal will come along soon.

“But if I didn’t score all this season, it wouldn’t bother me if we won promotion again. This is one of the best teams I’ve ever played in, there is great quality in the squad and the manager has some unbelievable options.”

Turnbull was his usual impressive self in midfield, although he took a knock on his ankle which meant that he played in a more forward role for the last 10 minutes, as by then Quakers had used all three of their subs. He should be fit for tonight’s away game at Curzon Ashton.

“I thought it was a very strong performance, and at times our football was breathtaking. We started a little bit cagey, but we settled into the game after the first 20 minutes, and we were superb after half time.

“The new signings have come in and done really well. Mark Beck, for example, put himself about and caused loads of problems.”

Before Martin Gray became manager in 2012 Darlington were known to sign tall players who couldn’t get off the ground, but 6ft 5in Beck will be a useful weapon.

Boston, who just like Quakers have had an eventful recent past, pressed hard in the first 20 minutes and forced mistakes, one of which led to Waide Fairhurst running clear one on one against Darlington keeper Peter Jameson, but he should have done better than put the ball over the bar.

Quakers steadily worked their way back into the game, and with Beck a constant threat in the air, took the lead just on half time.

A long throw by Gary Brown and the presence of Beck and Kevin Burgess in the box caused distractions, and when Liam Hardy tried to turn on the six yard line, he was upended by defender Joe Maguire and Terry Galbraith scored for the second successive Saturday from the spot.

Despite playing against the stiff breeze in the second half, Quakers brushed their former Football League rivals aside.

Just five minutes after half time, a long clearance by Burgess into the Boston half bounced off Maguire and dropped for Liam Hardy, who coolly ran on and rolled in the second.

On 52 minutes, Turnbull picked up a throw in from Brown, simply aimed for his team mates in the box from the right, and Pepe-Ngoma obligingly sliced the ball into his own net from twelve yards – an act that soon saw him subbed by his manager.

And the game was over on 58 minutes when sub Adam Mitchell and Galbraith worked a short corner on the right to enable the left back the space to cross with his trusty left foot to the far post, where Beck headed in from six yards.

Gray felt that he had enough breathing space with tonight’s game at Curzon Ashton in mind, to use up all his subs and Quakers kept a firm grip on the game until stoppage time when a long ball found Jay Rollins, who moved inside and beat Jameson with a left foot shot.

“It’s always great getting three points in your first home game in a new league,” said Gray. “As the game wore on, we got stronger. Regarding the wind, I felt the second half would suit us better and so it proved. The ball stayed in play more, and we got more balls into their box. I thought we were outstanding in the second half. Liam Hardy took his goal well, and produced a very good finish. The third goal came in the right manner, although I don’t think it should be credited to Phil.

“I thought Mark Beck’s all round game was good. He won headers and got himself a fantastic goal, which is always good to score on your home debut.

“I was disappointed though to concede a soft late goal, which was unlike us. Overall though, our performance, and the way that we scored the goals, was great.

“It’s an encouraging result, but we’re not getting carried away by it.”

Goals: Galbraith (42, 1-0), Hardy (50, 2-0), Pepe-Ngoma og (52, 3-0), Beck (58, 4-0); Rollins (90, 4-1)

Booking: Maguire (foul, 43)

Referee: Paul Newhouse (Durham)

Attendance 1,435

Darlington: Jameson, Marrs, Burgess, Brown, Galbraith, Thompson (Mitchell 52), Turnbull, Scott (Portas 58), Gillies, Beck, Hardy (Cartman 62). Subs (not used): Bell (gk), Nowakowski

Boston United: Dibble, Thomas, Burgess, Chippendale, Maguire, Pepe-Ngoma (Colley 62), Rollins, Roberts, Fairhurst (Johnson 62), Smith, St Juste (Adams 62). Subs (not used): Hilliard, Wildin