David Hodgson is fast running out of explanations for Darlington's inability to dispose of teams at their mercy.

On Saturday he left that to opposite number Martin Ling.

While Hodgson was left to rue another game of missed chances, it was the Leyton Orient boss who best summed up an afternoon of sheer frustration for Quakers, by admitting: "We got out of jail."

And few in the 3,373 crowd at Brisbane Road would disagree.

At tea-time on Saturday anybody passing the home dressing room may have mistaken it for that of the defeated side.

And as Ling tore into his "lucky" winners, next door Hodgson was again seeking answers from his goal-shy strikers after a hatful of wasted opportunities.

Few managers in Hodgson's situation would dare even contemplate opting for a three-man attack but that is perhaps a measure of how much faith the Quakers boss has in his first XI.

But even with top scorer Barry Conlon leading the attack alongside Lee Matthews and Neil Wainwright, Quakers could not hit the proverbial barn door no matter how many chances they had.

On another day Conlon may well have left East London with the match ball under his arm. But on Saturday, the usually composed Irishman was guilty of missing a welter of opportunities to add to his season's six-goal tally.

And Os boss Ling admitted afterwards: "We've got out of jail. I can't even say we defended well because Conlon has missed three chances.

"We didn't get in their last third other than for ten minutes in the second half.

"I was standing there waiting for them to score. I feel like a lucky manager."

And how Quakers could do with a quick sprinkling of lady luck themselves at the foot of the Third Division - especially in front of goal.

Carlisle's win at Boston - their tenth point from 12 - cuts the gap at the bottom to a nervy six points.

More importantly, Quakers remain four points away from safety.

"At the moment this football club is second bottom and the reason it is second bottom is because it is not scoring goals," said Hodgson.

"Once we got a hold of the game we looked comfortable, especially in the second half.

"We got them on the back foot, we kept them on the back foot and we looked good on quick breakaways.

"I'm led to believe that we put in 46 crosses which is an awful lot at this level.

"We've had so much possession and so many chances but if we don't put the ball in the back of the net we don't get the points."

And for the third time in four games, Quakers were made to pay.

Tom Newey almost joined Quakers during the summer only to see a permanent deal fall through after a successful loan spell from Leeds.

And it was the Sheffield-born winger who created the only goal of the game after just nine minutes, playing Ciaran Toner into the box to slide the ball through the legs of Quakers keeper Michael Price.

Orient were lucky not to be reduced to ten men with just over a quarter of an hour played when striker Lee Thorpe elbowed Matt Clarke in the face with no apparent intention to win the ball.

After soaking up the early pressure Neil Wainwright tested Os keeper Glenn Morris with a low drive before Conlon saw a shot charged down.

Conlon then turned provider in the 33rd minute when he squared for Matthews but the on-loan forward dragged his effort wide.

There was another let off for Orient when Thorpe again let another elbow loose on a Quakers defender but this time the forward - later hauled off at half-time - escaped with a talking to from the referee.

Conlon was unlucky not to score in first half stoppage time when his turn and shot was brilliantly tipped away by Morris.

At the other end the trickery of Justin Miller almost brought a second goal for Orient but the midfielder fired into the side-netting after weaving his way past three players.

Moments later Miller once again showed great individual skill with a strong run in to the box but this time he was denied by the feet of Price.

Quakers should have levelled in the 73rd minute when, with the goal at his mercy, Conlon somehow managed to slice Chris Hughes' low cross over the bar.

And ten minutes later Conlon was left with his head in his hands when he planted a header wide when it looked easier to score. Matthews and Conlon both came close with efforts late on but the writing was already on the wall for Quakers.