The Flying Postman delivered the goods to give Darlington a morale-boosting point at Home Park.

Striker John Williams - who gained his nickname from his non-league and Coventry days - was better late then never with his calling card after Quakers spurned a hatful of chances in their best away performance in the league this season by far.

It was an astonishing and unexpected turnaround from the deplorable displays against Chesterfield and Luton in previous away games, and clearly last week's win at York in the LDV Vans Trophy has done much for Quakers' confidence.

They looked more assured and more determined, and as a consequence their teamwork, passing, movement and tackling were of good quality.

Much of that was down to the fact that manager Gary Bennett was able to field a balanced line up following the recovery from injury of Paul Heckingbottom to play at left back.

The only aspect of their play which let them down was their finishing. They could have won the game by half time, because they had at least half a dozen good chances in the opening period to pick up their first away league win since August. That was in contrast to the debacle of Chesterfield, when they didn't muster a shot on goal.

There were some very good performances, particularly from youngster Mark Kilty, who played with Sean Gregan-esque maturity in the middle of the defence.

Hopefully, this isn't a false dawn, and Quakers can maintain this sort of standard in the weeks to come.

Just like the small band of dedicated supports who made the 380-mile trip to South Devon, Bennett couldn't believe the final outcome.

"I would have settled for a point before the game," he said.

"But the way we played and the amount of chances we created, then it was two points lost.

"I don't think anybody could believe that we were 1-0 down at half time, even their supporters. We could have been three goals in the lead at that point.

"We had six golden chances, but we didn't kill Plymouth off. In the end, they got a free kick which went through the wall.

"But credit to our lads, they didn't panic, kept going at them and deservedly scored. Mind you, John Williams took his time, didn't he - I wanted him to shoot three times before he put the ball in the net!

"I stressed to the players that I didn't want the same performance as we did at Chesterfield. I wanted them to roll their sleeves up and work hard, which they did."

Bennett also put the much improved performance down to a change in the style of play.

"We've been looking at one or two things. The way we've been playing in previous games was a bit too direct, so we went back to our passing game and played the ball forward to the feet of David McMahon and John Williams, and it worked a treat.

"Hopefully, we can build on this now on Tuesday night."

The chances started to flow after just two minutes, when David McMahon, who has looked much sharper in his last two matches, headed wide from a cross by Martin Gray. Jesper Hjorth's control then let him down when Williams found him unmarked in an excellent position on the edge of the area.

After Plymouth striker Paul McGregor volleyed a cross into the side netting, Quakers should have taken the lead after 12 minutes, when a bad mistake by Jon Beswetherick on the halfway line allowed Williams a clear run on goal, but after he rounded the keeper, covering defender David Worrell stuck out his back foot and knocked the ball off the line.

Hjorth and Martin Gray both missed the target from 18 yards, then Williams cleverly laid the ball off for McMahon to swivel and shoot just wide with his left foot.

Williams missed another good chance after 29 minutes, this time bursting into the box, but with only John Sheffield to beat he put the ball over.

It seemed only a matter of time before a goal was scored but unfortunately it was at the wrong end. Craig Taylor struck a left foot shot from the edge of the area past a helpless Andy Collett.

Regardless, Quakers continued to create chances in the second half. Hodgson blasted straight at Sheffield, who then pulled off a superb diving save to push away a rising effort from Heckingbottom.

Plymouth saw more of the ball in the second half, and Collett was agile enough in a crowded goalmouth to save one handed from Martin Phillips.

Bennett gambled after 55 minutes by taking off Hodgson and Hjorth and sending on Glenn Naylor and Adam Marsh, with Williams dropping back into midfield.

Quakers got their deserved equaliser after a cross from the right by Brumwell caused chaos in the shaky Plymouth defence. Naylor and McMahon both failed to force the ball home, but Williams cleverly turned ten yards out and beat two defenders on the line courtesy of his left foot for his first goal for the club, and only Quakers eighth on the road this season.

McGregor then flashed a shot across the face of goal, while referee Dermot Gallagher turned down a penalty appeal from Glenn Naylor who claimed he was pulled down by Worrell. In the last minute, Naylor burst through, but found the side netting.

The last four performances have been poor, poor, good, and good. What do you reckon for Tuesday night against Shrewsbury