Crisis? What crisis? A week ago Darlington were heading for a miserable start to the season having been nothing short of dire in their defeat to Leyton Orient and facing up to three consecutive tough away games.

But what a difference a week and one game can make.

All it took for pessimistic frowns to be replaced by satisfied grins was Saturday's single goal win, but the manner in which it came played a big part in convincing supporters that a good season could be in the offing.

On the face of it, being awarded two penalties, one scored, one missed, and Grimsby Town having two men sent off, may suggest an element of fortune but that would harshly take credit away from Quakers who deserved their first away win of the season.

It owed as much to a strong second half show as it did some eye-catching individual performances.

Ryan Valentine, Joey Hutchinson and Jonjo Dickman all put in their best 90 minutes of the four games so far as Darlington displayed some of the attacking, forward-thinking play that manager David Hodgson promised at the start of the month.

There was little evidence of it against Orient, but at Grimsby Quakers were much more positive, playing the ball across the floor and passing through midfield - and the player at the hub of Darlington's best approach play was Anthony Peacock, the central midfielder making his full league debut in place of injured Matty Appleby.

Despite being 5ft 3in he really caught the eye and in the absence of the more defensive-minded Appleby, Dickman flourished alongside his exciting midfield partner.

Ball retention, according to Hodgson, is his forte and on Saturday the ex-Middlesbrough youth team player demonstrated this by losing possession just twice while providing an outlet for the defence and linking up with the attacking players to good effect.

But Peacock's high point was the way he won Quakers' second penalty of the afternoon, converted by Guylain Ndumbu Nsungu with nine minutes remaining.

It was sheer entertainment; weaving his way through three bemused defenders before one lost patience and chopped him down.

But Peacock was not the only star. Although it was by no means a dominant afternoon as Grimsby were on top for the opening stages, it was still a far cry from a week previously when, in Hodgson's own words, Quakers were a shambles.

Much more satisfied at Blundell Park, Hodgson said: "For the first few minutes we struggled but the work rate we put in was fantastic.

"Then we started to play our training ground football, passing it and moving, and once we got into that pattern we slowly took control.''

In a low-key start Town put their stamp on their game earlier on with Darlington keeper Sam Russell coming to the rescue by producing a double save from Michael Reddy. Russell denied Grimbsy from the penalty spot at Blundell Park last season when Quakers produced a smash and grab to take all three points.

That day Darlington had just one shot on target - Jason St Juste's strike - but on the half hour on Saturday, Dickman had two efforts saved within a minute, the second thanks to a carefully weighted Peacock pass.

Those Reddy shots proved to be the closest Grimby came to scoring because by the second half the visitors were in command, passing through the home side who couldn't cope with Darlington's midfield movement.

A swift counter attack saw Johnson play Dickman through but despite being felled on the edge of the box referee Carl Boyeson deemed it not a foul.

But on 65 minutes the referee did blow his whistle when he awarded Quakers' first penalty of the day after heavyweight defender, Tony Crane, hauled Clyde Wijnhard to the floor.

Wijnhard scored from the spot at Rushden a fortnight ago but on Saturday he handed Town a get out of jail card as his tame kick was easily saved.

But Quakers were not deterred, keeping possession for lengthy spells and ten minutes from time Boyeson handed Darlington a second chance from the spot, this time thanks to Peacock's trickery.

He bamboozled the home defence until Tom Newey decided he'd seen enough and brought The Little Fella crashing to the ground.

Juninho remains the original Little Fella but after Saturday assistant manager Mark Proctor, whose idea it was sign to Peacock from Middlesbrough, christened him Baby Juninho.

Albeit tongue-in-cheek, comparing him to a World Cup winner is a bit much, but the similarities are there for all to see.

His balance, speed and trickery were too much for Newey, on loan at Darlington in 2000/03, whose foul earned him a second yellow card.

With Wijnhard now subbed, a mass scramble ensued for the penalty-taking rights.

Despite his miss in the reserves on the same ground last week Ndumbu Nsungu got there first and the big Congolese striker showed Wijnhard how it should be done by belting the ball home.

It was then a case of playing the game out with Grimsby becoming frustrated, especially Crane whose mouthful of abuse in the assistant's direction in injury time, over the award of a Darlington corner, earned the defender a red card.

The victory was much-needed, but Peacock's man of the match display, and particularly his trickery were also talking points, and Hodgson said: "I hope his parents were at the game to see him make his debut because they can be proud of the little fella.

"Mark Proctor is a big believer in him, I have never doubted his ability but wasn't sure how he'd do over 90 minutes against players much bigger than him - there was a nagging doubt. But he answered all those worries.

"He twists and turns so quickly and because of that big defenders can't deal with him. I spoke to our big players in training and they said they would not like to play against Anthony.

"He lost the ball only twice and that's what we need if we're going to play football the way we want to, we need players who won't lose it cheaply. Now he's got to keep it up."