Darlington 0, Notts County 1.

AS angry Darlington fans vented their frustration towards rookie referee Anthony Taylor at the final whistle on Saturday, the players they paid to see were spared what would have been a justified barracking.

Taylor's display may have been nothing short of woeful, but in suffering their fourth straight defeat, Darlington were equally inept.

Even at the height of Darlington's renaissance under Dave Penney, Quakers' boss made no secret that the squad he inherited fell short of his expectations.

The six-match winning run only served, according to Penney, to paper over the cracks of Darlington's inadequacies. Only now are Penney's worst fears being realised.

The January transfer window cannot come soon enough for the boss who, on Saturday's evidence, will do well to avoid a six-match run he'd rather not have by the turn of the year. Quakers have now lost four in a row.

Quite why football's authorities insist on a transfer window at lower league level, where most clubs do not have the luxury of 30-plus squads like the Premiership, remains open for conjecture.

While the Football League are forced to implement a needless exercise, Penney's hands are well and truly tied.

His case wasn't helped by the intervention of Taylor - in his first season in the Football League - who ruled out Micky Cummins' 33rd minute header when Julian Joachim was adjudged to have fouled the keeper.

To add insult, the Cheshire official failed to award a foul on Patrick Collins, which led to Notts County's 84th minute winner, courtesy of Darlington-born defender Alan White.

Penney admitted: "The novelty of a new manager has now worn off.

"It's disappointing after we started ever so well, but all of a sudden we can see where the problems are now."

It was on Penney's appointment in October that the former Doncaster Rovers boss promised to bring 'high tempo football' to the 96.6TFM Darlington Arena.

However, Saturday's lacklustre display was a far cry from the style of football Penney is endeavouring to introduce.

Both sides went into the encounter on the back of three straight defeats - and how it told in a truly forgettable opening 45 minutes.

"We didn't start well at all, didn't have the tempo, but we did pick up in the second half," said Penney.

"I thought we were the better side in the second half and we got done with a sucker punch really.''

One of the few plus points was an improved display from Darlington's defence.

But, frustratingly, while the return of Darren Holloway provided some stability to the back-line, Penney's strikers provided little for the County defence to think about.

"We just didn't have that final ball in, which didn't give us many chances to score," said Penney. "Of our strikers only Simon Johnson has scored a goal in our last ten games, which is a worry.

"We did defend well, but we just need a little bit of magic from somewhere to get us a goal, which we haven't got at the moment."

Penney knows that a fully-fit Joachim fits that criteria, but until then Darlington are light on attacking options.

The club record signing, who has yet to score on home soil, could have given Quakers a fifth minute lead but his attempted angled lob was comfortably gathered by County keeper Saul Deeney.

Alun Armstrong endured another frustrating afternoon and he was desperately unlucky not to end his barren run in front of goal when his looping header was cleared off the line by White.

When Quakers did manage to find the net, Cummins' header was ruled out through no fault of his own as the referee felt Deeney was obstructed by Joachim.

The home side had David Stockdale to thank in the 41st minute as the keeper produced an excellent point blank save to deny Andy Parkinson.

But, the best chance of the half fell to Holloway, who glanced his header inches wide from Craig James' inswinging free-kick.

After a sluggish opening 45 minutes, Quakers were quicker out of the blocks in the second half. And, after unsuccessful efforts from Clark Keltie and Neil Wainwright, Barry Conlon saw his shot charged down by the elbow of Ian Ross. However, the referee wasn't convinced, much to the disgust of Darlington's lowest league attendance of the season - 3,253.

From a ridiculously tight angle Parkinson could only strike the upright to let Quakers off the hook, while at the other end Conlon was presented with two goalscoring opportunities the Irishman failed to convert.

And, after Collins could only volley over the bar in the 82nd minute and Taylor waved away appeals for a penalty when Wainwright was fouled in the box moments later, Quakers were made to pay for their profligacy in front of goal when White struck the killer blow six minutes from time.

Collins appeared to upended by Laurie Dudfield in the build-up. And, after Jay Smith picked up the rebound from the resulting corner, his cross fell to White who powered his header into the far corner of Stockdale's goal.