Darlington 1-0 Bury

---

Posted at 08:51 PM GMT, Wednesday, 5th November 2008

Alan White's fourth goal of the season pushed Darlington through to the Northern Semi-finals of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy and continued the club's rich vain of form. Four wins in a row had moved Darlington to the summit of League Two and by the end of the evening Dave Penney's men had made it five straight wins from five.

Whilst the league is undoubtedly the priority for Darlington the trophy victory ensures that Quakers remain in excellent form as they go into their tricky FA Cup tie against non-league Droylsden. As expected the Darlington boss made a host of changes for this fixture. Goalkeeper Simon Brown made way for Polish shot stopper Prezyslaw Kazimierczack whilst Adam Proudlock lined up alongside the on loan Richie Foran. Elsewhere David Poole and Robert Hulbert were also named in a changed midfield.

Were it not for the preposterous rules relating to who could play in this game Penney would surely have rung even more changes. Thanks to Football League rules Quakers, like all sides in this competition, were forced to field six of their highest appearance players. Were it not for this then Penney would have altered his team further.

For the most part this was a low key affair with Bury looking the more likely, particularly during the first period. Liechtenstein winger Franz Burgmeier provided a few moments of magic but overall this was one of Darlington's poorest games of late. On six minutes Burgmeier managed to get into the Bury area before screwing a shot wide from a narrow angle. He then played a good ball into the area which the visitors failed to deal with convincingly. Adam Proudlock picked up possession and tested Wayne Brown in the Bury goal. The visitors responded by putting the ball into the net. Ryan Cresswell headed home but he was ruled offside.

On thirty-five minutes Elliott Bennett let fly with a shot that went just over the bar. Moments later Bennett turned provider and set up Paul Scott for a shot straight at the Darlington keeper. Despite the visitors having the better of proceedings less than ten minutes into the second half they found themselves behind. A defensive blunder saw Bury unable to sort out Tim Ryan's cross and the ball fell for White who fired home from close range.

The goal sparked Darlington in life and they managed to show more than they did during the first period for the remainder of the game. On the hour mark Gregg Blundell came on in place of Proudlock. Bury however might have found a way back into the game during the second half. Kazimierczack spilled a Richie Barker drive from outside the area. It was a moment which summed up his performance in general during the evening. Andy Bishop then left the keeper stranded as he planted a chip shot onto the bar.

Darlington however threatened a second during the late stages of the game but in the end did not need one as they steered themselves through to the next stage of the competition. Quakers have certainly played better than this performance during recent weeks however progress means the club's excellent run continues unhindered.

Darlington: Kazimierczak, Austin, White, Foster, Ryan, Poole (Griffin 58), Hulbert, Ravenhill, Burgmeier (Kennedy 68), Foran, Proudlock (Blundell 58). Subs Not Used: Oakes, Miller.

Bury: Brown, Scott, Futcher, Cresswell, Buchanan, Bennett, Jones (Racchi 69), Baker, Barry-Murphy (Haslam 61), Morrell (Hurst 88), Bishop. Subs Not Used: Belford, Anane.

Darlington bookings: Proudlock.

Bury bookings: Barry-Murphy, Scott.

Goals: White 53rd min (1-0).

Att: 1,651