Darlington manager Gary Bennett blasted the performance of referee Mike Cooper as "diabolical" as Quakers were forced to settle for a point at Spotland.

Up to Saturday, Bennett had been fairly relaxed in his new job, but he took a leaf out of David Hodgson's book of passionate management with a verbal blast at the Walsall whistler.

No one could blame him and all 650 Darlington fans at Rochdale will be on his side this morning.

Controversy is a constant companion for Quakers at the moment, and the script for another chapter was written once it became clear referee Cooper was taking charge of his first Football League game.

He didn't help himself by failing to show a yellow card to Rochdale midfielder Paul Ware for an early tackle from behind on Martin Gray, and then proceeding to book eight players, six of them from Darlington, for less serious offences.

And he further helped upset Darlington fans further by giving a hotly-disputed penalty early in the second half which not even the Rochdale players could understand.

Something controversial always happens at Rochdale when Quakers visit. They have only won once at Spotland since they returned to the league, and they seemed on their way to just their second victory in the last decade until Mr Cooper's intervention.

Bennett was clearly upset at the final whistle, and spent some quiet moments in the dug-out before speaking to the referee.

"It's not just sour grapes from me. The supporters could see that some of the decisions that were made were diabolical," he said.

"When you try to approach the referee, he doesn't want to know. It's a stage out there for them, and they think they're the stars of the show.

"I told him that if he goes through the season like that, he'll be a villain more than anything else."

Bennett's biggest gripe was over the penalty when Paul Heckingbottom was adjudged to have fouled Ware. Paul (Heckingbottom) was entitled to challenge for the ball, which he did, and their lad went down.

"When our players asked the referee, they were told that he led with his arm. How many players lead with their arm in the game? Everybody was surprised, even their lads."

Quakers' performance was disciplined and determined, more polished and spectacular, which could be the way they'll play away from home this season.

Keeper Andy Collett only had a couple of saves to make as his three centre-backs dealt with everything Rochdale put in the box. And with new signing Stuart Elliott adding strength to the midfield engine, then Quakers had a disciplined look about them.

"Rochdale didn't look as if they were going to score," said Bennett.

"I know it wasn't pretty to watch, but we went to Rochdale to do a job, and we did it well. The only way they were going to score was through a penalty.

"Our goal came from the first real move we made, but we didn't get much chance to put moves together after that. When we got possession, decisions went against us, and it was stop-start to Rochdale's advantage all the time. We had players booked for nothing.

"We worked hard, we looked solid, and there was no way that Rochdale were going to score."

Quakers had an early scare when Gary Himsworth, starting his first game since January, was pulled up for a foul just outside his own box, and Ware drove the ball into the wall.

They took the lead aftereight minutes with a flowing move, which started when debutant Ton Kaak, who has still to come to terms with English football, forced a corner.

The ball eventually was worked into the box through a combination of a good run from Glenn Naylor and a precise pass from Gray to Craig Liddle, who kept his composure before squaring the ball for Lee Nogan to sidefoot home.

Rochdale then forced a couple of corners as Quakers showed a touch of indecision at the back, but the closest they came to scoring was through a shot on the turn from Tony Ellis, whose effort was flicked over the bar by Heckingbottom, who had an excellent game in the middle of defence.

Quakers kept a firm grip on the game thanks to disciplined defending and good covering, and only allowed Rochdale one more chance in the first half when a home raid ended with Ware heading over from a Lee Todd cross.

Then the fun and games began.

Referee Cooper decided that Kaak had fouled Keith Hill first before he went down in the area just after half time, then Quakers hit the roof when the referee decided that Heckingbottom used his elbow when challenging Ware, and Simon Davies converted the penalty.

Bennett immediately took off Nogan - who worked tirelessly up front without much support - and Kaak, bringing on Jesper Hjorth and youngster Gary Williamson for his league debut.

Craig Liddle, up helping his attack, then headed wide as did Lee Todd at the other end.

It was a matter of who would breakdown after that - one of the defences or the referee, and it turned out to be the latter.

Yellow cards were brandished to flummoxed players, more mysterious free-kicks were awarded, and in the dying minutes Mr Cooper awarded a corner which home defender Keith Hill headed just over.

Darlington will be hoping that Mr Cooper won't be handling any more of their games this season.