Quakers march on as Wright strikes after just 29 seconds

PROMOTION-CHASING Darlington are up to second with a goal after just 29 seconds enough to give them victory last night, and debutant Kevin Gall played a huge role in the strike.

The striker only arrived on loan from Carlisle on Monday but he wasted no time in making a good impression - helping create Tommy Wright's goal with many fans still taking their seats.

Gall's shot rebounded off the crossbar and Wright was on hand to score his second goal in four days and it was enough to lift Darlington above Rotherham United.

It was a great start for Gall and Quakers also had another new striker in Guylain Ndumbu- Nsungu - who returned to the club on a permanent basis from Gillingham yesterday - on the bench.

The Congo-born forward had a productive six-month spell with the club before leaving two years ago, but he was not required to take his tracksuit off last night as Quakers recorded their fourth win in five games, though the performance was not convincing.

Manager Dave Penney called it average as for the second time in four days - having drawn with Macclesfield - Quakers were below par.

"The performance disappointed me, especially after scoring so early," said Penney. "When you score that early you should go on and, if not score more goals, certainly play better than that.

"We were great for the first minute and then average for the last 89. After that goal the game petered out and if anything you could say Accrington played the better football.

"Confidence should be high, we're on a good run but for some reason we're not on top of our game.

"If we are going to achieve anything this season we are going to have to play better than that. You can't question the work-rate or the commitment but the quality wasn't there."

In a blistering start David Stockdale was forced to make a save but Quakers responded immediately and after a clearance upfield Gall lifted a shot over the onrushing Accrington keeper Ian Dunbavin.

His effort rebounded off the crossbar and Wright was on hand to head into an empty net before even the 30 second mark had been reached.

Having lost their previous away game 8-2 to Peterborough, Accrington must have feared the worst and soon after Gall, playing as a striker alongside Wright with Gregg Blundell dropped, aimed for a second but pulled his 20-yard shot wide.

From similar distance Accrington's Mark King's effort was tipped over by Stockdale, but the corner was woefully wasted with the kind of effort sure to end up on a bloopers video.

Ian Craney stared in disgust at the turf after his kick rolled apologetically out of play before it had even reached the six-yard box.

The same player blasted high and wide from the edge of the area as Darlington struggled to clear, but that was about as good as it got for the visitors as Quakers' defence was well-marshalled by the returning Steve Foster.

The captain replaced White while Ryan Valentine came in at left-back and, with Richie Foran injured, Paul Mayo switched to left-midfield.

Micky Cummins was also recalled, at the expense of Ricky Ravenhill, and he had two chances in two minutes to make it 2-0. First he poked a shot wide from a good passage of play started on the right by Wright who played in Julian Joachim whose cross was fired wide by Cummins.

The ex-Port Vale midfielder then had an acrobatic effort turned around the post by Dunbavin as Darlington looked to make their advantage more comfortable.

Accrington had spells of possession but rarely threatened, while Darlington were content to stay in cruise control.

But that approach would have surely changed had Paul Mullin not fired wide from inside Quakers' penalty area when the ball rebounded to him after Clark Keltie blocked King's effort.

Within 60 seconds of the restart Craney blasted narrowly wide after carving Quakers up through the middle and there was another scare when Foster's back-header was cleared by Valentine.

Joachim was inches away from doubling the lead but his low drive across the penalty area rolled just wide, and the hardworking Gall almost scored but his effort was pushed around the post by Dunbavin. But Darlington held on to their slender advantage and are five points off the top with two games in hand.