Darlington's patched up side picked up three valuable points against a County side that rarely troubled the home defence.

16-year-old midfielder Corey Barnes made his first start for the hosts and Darlington boss Dave Penney also named youngsters Curtis Main, Danny Groves and Josh Gray on the bench.

After entering administration and being docked ten points by the League a week ago Darlington needed an early opportunity to lift the gloom around The Arena.

That came early in the game when Robin Hulbert converted a low Danny Carlton cross after only five minutes to give supporters something to cheer.

County found Darlington hard to break down during a windswept opening 25 minutes and, as both sides struggled to overcome the conditions, a half chance for Carlton inside the County area in the 16th minute was the only action to lift the spirits for the home support.

Myles Weston tried his best to make headway down the left flank and provide the ammunition for Delroy Facey and Jamie Forrester but the Darlington defence would not give an inch and it was the home side that continued to impress.

Jason Kennedy and Hulbert probed from midfield and Kevin Pilkington kept up his man-of-the-match performance for County

Carlton tested Pilkington with a 25-yard drive in the 31st minute that the keeper dived full length to tip around the post. Four minutes later Jason Kennedy fired straight at the busy County keeper with a shot from 18 yards.

County had their first shot on target in the 50th minute when Jonathon Forte fired straight at Darlington keeper Andy Oakes with a shot from just outside the Darlington penalty area.

Forte created another chance for himself when firing narrowly over with a volley from 20 yards in the 55th minute.

On a bitterly cold evening a low crowd of 2450 braved the elements to cheer their side on to victory as Darlington took their first steps towards clawing back their 10 point deduction.