Ten-man Darlington passed their latest test of character with a backs to the wall win over Plymouth at Feethams last night.

Quakers had to play for all but a minute of the second period after midfielder Stuart Elliott was dismissed for two bookable offences - but backed by a noisy crowd they held on to secure their first home win of the season and earn a standing ovation from the Feethams' faithful.

The dismissal took the shine off the only goal of the game scored by Dutchman Ton Kaak after only four minutes and after that Quakers showed huge amounts of determination and commitment to hold on to their lead.

Delighted Darlington manager Gary Bennett said: "I'm very proud of the players. They rolled their sleeves up and battled which may be wasn't something they did in the past.

"I wasn't happy with the sending off, I thought the referee should have used his common sense because their players deliberately kicked the ball against Stuart.

"The players all looked comfortable and worked really hard for each other."

The only goal came when a patient five-man move ended with Glenn Naylor setting up Elliott, whose powerful shot from 25 yards was deflected by Kaak, recalled to the side in place of Gary Williamson, past stranded Plymouth keeper Jon Sheffield.

With their confidence boosted, Quakers played some good one-touch football with some dangerous balls going into the box.

They were unlucky not to get a second after 12 minutes when Lee Nogan battled his way to the byline and pulled the ball back into the six yard box where Naylor robbed a defender and set up Kaak whose effort from ten yards was headed off the line by Wayne O'Sullivan.

Quakers had to be on their toes in defence against some threatening breaks down the flanks and Neil Aspin had to make a couple of timely interceptions.

Bennett's side nearly broke through again after 31 minutes when skipper Martin Gray found Kaak running clear, but the Dutchman fired weakly at Sheffield.

At the other end Lee Phillips popped up in a good position inside the box but fortunately for Quakers he failed to connect cleanly and the ball skidded across the face of goal.

Bennett had to reshuffle after 39 minutes when Aspin went off with a back injury to be replaced by Jesper Hjorth and Paul Heckingbottom moved across to the centre of defence.

However, the switch did not stop Quakers from playing some enterprising football.

The hard-working Nogan had a shot blocked, then he set up Kaak who put a difficult volley over the crossbar from 12 yards.

Quakers were reduced to ten-man within a minute of the restart when Elliott, who had been booked in the first half for tangling with midfielder Terry Fleming, failed to retreat ten yards for the free kick and appeared to block the ball.

Referee Paul Robinson had no hesitation in showing him a second yellow card.

And when the free kick ended up in the Darlington area, Fleming claimed that he was pushed to the ground by Craig Liddle, but the referee waved his penalty appeals away.

Mr Robinson did not endear himself to the home fans by awarding Plymouth a couple of harsh-looking free kicks, one of which was blasted high over the bar by Craig Taylor from the edge of the box.

And the home fans thought the Plymouth defender Adam Barratt should have been red carded after 61 minutes.

Moments after being booked for fouling Nogan, he pulled down Naylor on the edge of the box, but Mr Robinson took no further action except to award a free kick.

After Quakers had two optimistic penalty appeals turned down they nearly snatched another goal when Hjorth played a one-two with Nogan and charged into the box, but he blazed wide.

And a minute later Hjorth crossed from the right for Gary Himsworth to volley straight at Sheffield from the edge of the area.

But that was the last chance Quakers had as they were forced back on the defensive for the last 20 minutes.

However, despite all their possession Plymouth did not really force Darlington keeper Andy Collett into action because he was so well protected by his defence.

However, there were a couple of heart-stopping moments right at the end when Steve Guinan was left unmarked six yards out but his shot was deflected over the top, then in the dying seconds substitute Jason Peake blazed over the top from ten yards.

Elsewhere in Division Three, winless Shrewsbury remain bottom after a 1-0 home defeat to Carlisle, whose first victory came courtesy of Ian Stevens' goal eight minutes from time.

In Division Two, Walsall twice fell behind to Oxford but Brett Angell's late goal enabled them to maintain their 100per cent record with a 3-2 win