David Hodgson spent all Saturday in his sick bed so there can't have been a better boost for the under the weather boss than to hear his Darlington side had got their play-off bid back on track.

After being sent to the stands in the loss at Southend, Hodgson is already facing a possible ban from the dug-out, but, laid low with a virus, he didn't even make it to Gigg Lane on Saturday.

Instead his No. 2, Mark Proctor, became No. 1 for the day but despite a shaky opening 20 minutes in which Bury were the better side, Quakers produced a display that will make happy viewing when the manager watches the match video.

In his absence, new signing Bobby Petta grabbed a memorable debut winner, while a switch from Darlington's usual 3-5-2 formation, with regulars Neil Maddison and Craig Hignett not in the side, worked a treat.

"I'll be telling David that the boys worked really hard for him and I'm sure this win will be a huge pick-up for him," said Proctor. "All week he wasn't well but we spoke on Friday night and he said he'd ring us in the morning to let me know how he was feeling.

"He then delayed his decision on whether he was coming or not from 9am to 11am and at 1.30pm he sent me a text saying 'good luck, today's your first game in charge, all the best'.

"It was strange because there were no clashes with the fourth official, nobody was sent from the dug-out, no jumping up an down, it was all very calm for a change!"

Although Bury piled forward in search of a late equaliser, by that stage they should have been out of contention because Quakers had peppered the home goal, especially in the second half.

Going forward Darlington's passing was fluid as the faith in the new 4-4-2 formation paid dividends, and although Petta rarely attacked up the left wing, it was his link-up play when he cut inside that caught the eye.

Joe Kendrick, the club's most orthodox left-back, came into the side while Brian Close returned to the centre of midfield as Hodgson ditched his favoured 3-5-2 for 4-4-2 and it delivered a victory, despite a testing start to the game.

After only ten minutes Quakers were thankful to the heroics of keeper Sam Russell who, despite being wrong-footed, managed to get a hand to Jon Newby's deft header. Minutes later the No. 1, or No. 23 to be precise, was on hand to save again from a Newby header.

A misplaced Clyde Wijnhard pass set Bury on the attack again and this time Darlington were fortunate that Newby could only volley wide from eight yards as the hosts continued to threaten.

On loan striker Andrew Keogh was playing against Darlington for the third time this season for as many different clubs - Leeds in pre-season and on loan at Scunthorpe - and after firing two blanks he almost made it third time lucky but his 17th minute low drive was saved.

But Quakers then settled and after Wijnhard warmed Andy Marriott's fingers with a low drive, Petta scored via a delightful chip.

The left-winger received the ball from Close in the corner of the penalty area and dinked it over the keeper and into the top corner, although it may have been meant as a cross, but, as Proctor said: "I'm not really bothered whether he meant it or not because we won, end of story."

"Once Bobby scored it gave us a lift, we got a foothold in the game and we could have scored more. Alun Armstrong hit the post and Brian Close wasn't far away with a shot from the edge of the box."

Petta's goal took the sting out of Bury's game and for the remainder of the afternoon Darlington looked likely to score a second, while the Shakers had a handful of attacks but struggled to test Russell.

Close certainly tested Marriott in the 53rd when he lit rip with from 25 yards, the keeper having to tip over the bar for a corner and minutes later Armstrong hit the post with a header.

Valentine went on a marauding run past two defenders before his shot was blocked when a goal would have killed off Bury, while sub Craig Hignett fired wide from good position, but a second just wouldn't come.

Bury's best chance to equalise fell to Simon Whaley who mis-kicked when unmarked six yards out, while Joe Kendrick executed a vital sliding challenge to stop Keogh.

But Darlington were assured of victory when Matt Clarke, capping a strong individual performance, cleared a dangerous cross from deep inside his own penalty area in injury time.

Darlington have not been the most consistent team this season, losing almost as many as they've won, but they've now lost only one of the last seven and, with games running out, now would be a good time to step up a gear.

With games against lowly Notts County and Wycombe Wanderers to come, Quakers have an ideal opportunity to start a good run, especially as the top two, Swansea and Yeovil, visit Darlington shortly.

Proctor said: "Before the defeat at Southend we had gone five games unbeaten so last week we had a talk with the players about going on another run and we stressed the importance of getting three points at Bury.

"We managed to do that, now we hope we're going to remain unbeaten for a few weeks yet.

"Every game we play is big for us right now, especially with it being so tight at the top of the table.

"Over the coming weeks we want to consolidate a position in the play-off area but if we can really put together a great run of form then why not target the top three?

Result: Bury 0 Darlington 1.

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