IN 1605 Guy Fawkes was foiled in his attempt blow up the Houses of Parliament - on the day his plot was commemorated Darlington manager David Hodgson was ruing his own lack of firepower.

At the beginning of the season Clyde Wijnhard and Simon Johnson were seen by Hodgson as the men to lead Darlington's promotion charge.

But, a whole lot has happened since the pairing showed promise during an encouraging pre-season programme.

One has since been sacked and farmed out to Macclesfield, the other is now a converted midfielder.

In Guylain Ndumbu-Nsungu and Akpo Sodje, Hodgson has two almost identical players - raw, innovative, yet neither are natural or prolific goalscorers.

Hodgson hopes injury-plagued striker Michael Bridges is the answer to his problems. A massive gamble it may be, but if, as Hodgson insists, Bridges is now fully fit, his capture could prove to be one of the coups of the season. If Bridges does join the club on loan from Bristol City this week, Hodgson will hope to get a better return than he did from Alun Armstrong last season.

Whether or not Bridges would feature as a lone striker is open to conjecture. Sodje cut an almost anonymous figure at Oakwell and it was Johnson who provided the attacking poise with his jinking runs from midfield.

But, while Quakers' attacking frailties may have contributed towards Saturday's FA Cup first round defeat, they were left chasing the game after Paul Hayes' fifth minute opener.

Hodgson must have been fearing the worst when Hayes lobbed Sam Russell as Barnsley began the game in a frenzy.

The first 20 minutes had a heavy thumping written all over it - Barnsley forced five corners in the opening ten - but after some dogged defending and with skipper Matt Clarke leading by example, Quakers settled and were good value against the League One side.

They may have even forced a replay after hitting the woodwork twice.

"We paid for a sloppy start, but we did ourselves proud for the remaining 70 minutes," said Hodgson. "We clawed our way back into the game and we were the better side in the second half.

"The only issue is that we don't have a goalscorer as such out there and that cost us in the end. We had enough balls into the box, but we didn't take our chances.

"The ball just wouldn't go in for us and I said to the players afterwards if they were wearing the shirt of any other football club we'd be in the hat for the next round.

"After the first 20 minutes I don't think you would know who was in the higher division."

The battling display was also recognised by the 666 Darlington fans who made the trip South Yorkshire. Hodgson may have bore the brunt of criticism from supporters in recent weeks, but a standing ovation at the final whistle gauged a performance which was widely accepted.

"The travelling supporters showed a lot of respect to the players at the end of the game," said Hodgson. "They appreciated the performance and rightly so.

"We showed commitment and played some good football at times, which was well received by our fans."

Indeed, while Quakers may have been knocked out at the first round stage for the third year running, the performance will bode well for this weekend's visit of Wycombe Wanderers.

After the early goal, Quakers almost fell further behind in the 13th minute when Russell saved at the feet of Brian Howard.

Tormentor-in-chief Chris Shuker was involved in just about everything, ensuring Joe Kendrick's first appearance of the season was be a busy one.

Russell had to be alert in rushing out to block at the feet of Shuker after the former Hartlepool player evaded the challenge of Clarke after 27 minutes.

But, for all Barnsley's early dominance, some resolute defending from Quakers helped instill belief and the visitors grew in stature as the half progressed.

And, with minutes until the interval, Quakers struck the cross-bar through Neil Wainwright. Stretching to send Sodje's flick-on goalwards, Wainwright's effort had Nick Colgan beaten, but not the woodwork.

Shuker's withdrawal at half-time through injury brought relief for the visitors but they were still fortunate not to concede a second goal when Marc Richards' cross from the right evaded Hayes by inches.

Quakers fans were celebrating what they thought was a penalty in the 59th minute when Sodje appeared to be upended by Robbie Williams - only to see Phil Joslin point for a goal-kick.

Hayes and Tykes' captain Stephen McPhail both went close to doubling Barnsley's lead, but it was the visitors who finished the half the strongest.

The introduction of debutante Phil Stamp and Ndumbu-Nsungu added fresh impetus. And, it was the later who brought a superb save out of Colgan with a ferocious angled volley.

Ndumbu-Nsungu then saw his next effort cleared off the near post by Dale Tonge after Sodje cut the ball across.

But, for all their possession in the closing stages, Quakers, not for the first time , were shy of any real goalscoring threat.