A win's a win as Quakers end first day jinx

And although comforting to think Quakers got the better of Grimsby without being at full throttle, Saturday's win left fans still asking the perennial question: Where are the goals going to come from?

The lack of a striker has been a worry ever since Barry Conlon left for Barnsley, and some would say since Marco Gabbiadini left for Northampton four years ago.

But those worries can only have intensified after 90 minutes in which Darlington only looked like scoring once substitute Neil Wainwright entered the fray - until then the attack was blunt.

In front of a poor crowd of just 4,807 it was clear that David Hodgon's side, with a scratch strike-force of Craig Russell and unfit defender Matt Clarke, lacked a cutting edge and the longer the team continues without someone as effective as Conlon the more likely they are to succumb in games like this.

It was new goalkeeper Sam Russell, man of the match on his debut, who proved as influential in the victory as scorer Ian Clark.

Without his superb work between the sticks, Darlington could easily have been beaten as Grimsby had the better of Quakers. They can be justified in feeling hard done by.

It was largely thanks to Russell that the Mariners left empty-handed, not that Hodgson had much sympathy.

He was keen as ever to put three points on the board, especially so as the club had not relished an opening day home win since 1982.

"After the Peterborough game a week ago I put my neck on the block by saying that we would win against Grimsby so I'm delighted that we've finally ended the shocking run of results we've had on the opening day," he said.

"I had told all the players about the record, and I was determined to put it right.

"I just hope all the other aspects of the day went well; that there was no congestion outside, that there were no traffic problems in the car park and that the fans enjoyed themselves."

Michael Price was Darlington's No. 1 for most of last season but his place had been under threat since Russell's summer arrival.

Goalkeeping duties had been shared until Saturday when Hodgson opted for the former Boro youngster and his faith was rewarded.

Price has 36 first-team starts to his name, while this was only Russell's second competitive match - the first was for Darlington while on loan in December 2002 - but his inexperience didn't show and Hodgson said: "Sam was excellent, he made four or five great saves.

"Michael has not always dealt particularly well with back-passes, he's allowed opportunities for forwards to close him down so Sam got the nod purely on that basis.

"They were both given chances in pre-season during which they both made some great saves but Sam was chosen because of the kicking issue.

"Andy Collett (goalkeeping coach) is working very hard with Michael on his kicking and hopefully that will improve.

"But I wish Sam didn't have the opportunity to make those saves."

Perhaps the team needs time to gel with the fresh faces and maybe the exhausting heat, which prompted the referee to call an unusual drinks break after 30 minutes, played a part but the conditions didn't seem to affect Grimsby's Ashley Sestanovic who was the pick of the day's outfield players.

The speedy forward looked capable of creating something every time he picked up possession, which was frustrating for Hodgson as he had made man-marking plans only to ditch them late in the week.

He explained: "He's got incredible upper-body strength and he's got pace and that creates a fear factor so our players ended up backing off him and letting him run at us.

"The fact Curtis Fleming hurt his ankle in training meant Brian Close had to drop into defence instead of doing the marking job on Sestanovich that we had planned - our plans went out of the window."

It was Sestanovich who almost created an opening goal; after dispossessing a dwelling Close he fed Darren Mansaram 12 yards out and in space but Russell made his first eye-catching stop, diving at Mansaram's feet.

The save spared Mark Convery's blushes as, just moments earlier, he made one of the gaffes of the season, missing an open goal from three yards which, with at least another 48 League and cup matches to play, must already earn him the dubious honour of miss of the season.

Russell again had to be on top form just after the restart when Andy Parkinson turned his man in the area but Darlington's new No 1 reacted well to save the shot from a tight angle.

Striker Craig Russell had two efforts in the second half, the first a weak effort stopped by the on-rushing former Hartlepool keeper Anthony Williams, and the second, with a little more conviction, which Williams did well to save with his legs.

That was about as close Darlington came to a goal, until the intervention of Wainwright, who injected some much-needed pace to the attack.

With some tired players wilting in the heat, Wainwright's penetrating runs made the difference and he provided Clark with the winning goal.

Hodgson said: "Neil's a handful. He's got pace and in that heat it would have been impossible for their defenders to maintain their fitness and discipline for 90 minutes.

"When we picked the side we planned the timing of the substitutes and we knew who was going to come off and when. Thankfully it worked out.

"Wainy and Chris Hughes started to open things up on the right-hand side and after we scored I just wanted us to get a hold of the game and keep the ball."

Clark's finish was spectacular, hitting it powerfully first time from the left-hand edge of the penalty area into the roof of the net, easily beating his former Pool teammate.

And there was still time for Russell to pull off two impressive stops, both low to his left from Michael Reddy.

It wasn't a great performance. Quakers never quite matched the levels of performance reached in some pre-season games, but as long as they persevere without a new striker then grinding out 1-0 wins may be about the best supporters can hope for.

It's too soon to be critical, but if Darlington reach May having had a poor season no one will be able to look back and say the warning signs weren't revealed early on.