Rotherham United 13, Darlington 8. It might not have been the scoreline, it is the number of attempts at goal each side made, but it is a statistic that goes someway to explaining the story of not only the match but also Dave Penney's approach to winning away from home.

More telling, though, is that while in the first hour the hosts had ten attempts at beating Quakers' keeper David Stockdale, Darlington had just two and that was all Penney's side needed to take the lead.

After ten minutes, Pawel Abbott had his one shot of the afternoon and, because he is one of the most lethal marksmen in League Two, that was all he needed to make it 1-0.

His deadly finish - only to be expected from a £100,000 player - meant Darlington's reliable defence could then concentrate on keeping yet another clean sheet, despite the hosts going on to enjoy the vast majority of possession.

They had around 70 per cent, reckoned Millers boss Mark Robins, but genuine scoring chances were few as they were otherwise repelled by Darlington's key asset: their solid defence.

Quakers appeared comfortable throughout because the Steven Foster-inspired back four meant much of Rotherham's play failed to seriously trouble Stockdale.

No Football League club has conceded fewer goals so far and four clean sheets in five league games are testament to the reliable rearguard which is providing the platform on which Darlington's promotion assault is being built.

The backline of Neil Austin, who returned from injury on Saturday, Alan White, Foster and Tim Ryan provide Stockdale with formidable protection and played a major role in inflicting Rotherham's first league defeat of the season.

More importantly, the win took Quakers back to the League Two summit and although only five games have been played, as long as the back four are playing as well as they are, Darlington can expect to be towards the top for sometime to come.

It may be the likes of Abbott and Tommy Wright who bask in the limelight by scoring winning goals, but the defence are the real reason Quakers have started the season so well.

Captain Foster was, again, inspirational on Saturday, making his job look easy as he continually won every aerial duel and blocked Rotherham's route to goal with the kind of commitment not seen since Craig Liddle retired.

With each man of the match display the question is raised of what is Foster doing in League Two when he could have been proving himself in the Championship, having led Scunthorpe United to the League One title last season.

But the Iron's surprising decision not to offer Foster the terms he wanted instigated his departure and reunion with his former Doncaster boss Penney at Darlington

Modestly, he admits to being merely "happy" with his own displays, preferring instead to point out the team's strong work ethic.

"I'm happy with my own performances," he said. We've kept a few clean sheets, I've been a part of that and I like to think I've been doing my job.

"I'd never mark myself out of ten because, you never know, next week I could have a nightmare!

"The gaffer will have been delighted with the work-rate and the commitment the lads showed. That's an important part of any Dave Penney team.

"We showed bags of commitment today because of that we got the result we deserved.

"We were under pressure but I think the lads at the back felt comfortable.

"We felt we could deal with anything that came our way, and we know that we've got quality in the team so that if any chances come then we will stick them away."

Penney's defence first strategy means that action at the other end is restricted.

Especially away from home, his aim is to protect Stockdale and then, as Foster pointed out, hope to nick a goal via one of the team's various attackers - which is exactly what happened on Saturday.

Similarly, at Accrington three weeks ago, Darlington scored midway through the first half and then defended for long spells before finishing the game off just after the restart.

Although supporters would no doubt hope to see more of the high tempo football played in the stylish 3-1 win at Lincoln last November, as long as they are winning nobody will complain.

There has certainly been no buccaneering, all-out attack and, although it is still early in the season, results so far suggest nobody can question Penney's methods.

After Darlington had ridden the storm on Saturday, with a spell at the start of the second half particularly testing, Gregg Blundell sealed victory.

He emerged from the bench to make it 2-0 as Darlington demonstrated that the amount of possession or number of shots on goal a team has is irrelevant - what matters most is taking your chances.

But without a solid defence to rely on, Darlington would not be at the top of the table.