First impressions they say are everything and Quakers made a decent one at Prenton Park on a bitterly cold late October night. A week ago a second round tie in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy may have been greeted in a far from enthusiastic fashion by Darlington but instead the arrival of Dave Penney around twenty-four hours earlier gave the players some extra encouragement to put in a good showing on Merseyside.

The traits of derby day the weekend earlier were all still present in this game with Darlington proving difficult and stubborn to break down. The new found resilience at the back gave the higher division opponents only a handful of opportunities in the first forty-five minutes which they failed to take. Chances for the visitors were even less but over the course of the opening period it was tough to figure out who was sitting a division higher.

Quakers handed starts to Carlos Logan, Gaetano Giallanza, Barry Conlon and Simon Johnson but chances for the attacking quartet were limited. The opportunities may have been limited but the hard work certainly wasn't and Rovers were restricted to just two clear openings in the whole of the first half - both from set pieces. The home side were not helped when they were forced to make two changes before the half an hour mark. Kevin Ellison came off after only ten minutes for Chris Greenacre and twenty minutes later Steve Jennings was carried off and replaced by Ian Goodison.

The lively Chris Shuker was the biggest danger for Quakers early on and he was responsible for the stand out moments in an otherwise evenly contested game. His ball over the top after sixteen minutes allowed substitute Greenacre to pace clear but pulled out wide he could only hit his shot wide of the far post from a difficult angle. Eight minutes later Shuker's flag kick saw Steve Davies head narrowly over the crossbar. Darlington's best chance of the first half came when skipper Clark Keltie cut inside and powered wide of the far post.

Flowing attacking moves certainly wasn't what this encounter was going to be remembered for and instead Quakers kept their hosts at arm's length until thirty-eight minutes when Shuker's deep free kick from the right was headed towards the top corner by Gareth Taylor. Sam Russell did superbly to scamper backwards whilst keeping his eye on the ball and tip it over for another corner. Despite the briefest of spells on top it was the closest the home side came to breaking the stalemate and the closest they went for the remainder of the match as Quakers continued their stubborn attitude during the second half.

Three clean sheets in as many games was sealed during a second half in with any small gaps that had presented themselves to Tranmere in the opening period were quickly tidied up during the half time interval. Apart from the occasional dangerous cross Russell had little work to do in between the sticks during the second half and instead it was the visitors who had the better chances of notching the games' first goal which they did shortly after the hour mark. The introduction of Neil Wainwright however proved to be a big help for Darlington. The pale legged winger's entry into the fray shortly after the hour mark coincided with the visitor's best spell of the game and their eventual match winner.

Kalu Ngoma who had pulled the strings in midfield for the much of the night was demonstrating a new found keenness to shoot and his powerful drive from the edge of the area was spilt by John Achterberg in the Tranmere goal. Johnson attempted to latch onto the rebound but was pushed over by Goodison and Quakers had a spot kick. Giallanza celebrated his return to first team action with a coolly taken penalty to put Darlington ahead. It was the first of several decisions which annoyed the locals but following the goal Tranmere's limited ideas appeared to dwindle altogether and it simply needed Darlington to maintain their resolute work at the back.

Do that they certainly did and on eighty-three minutes they could easily have doubled their lead when Wainwright did well down the right to whip in a teasing far post cross which Logan was unfortunate not to connect with a the back post. Tranmere did turn the screw late on in injury time but the flow of the game was broken by frequent free-kicks which failed to help the home side. But even after the inevitable extra pressure in the closing stages Russell remained under worked and Quakers were left to take their place in the next round. Darlington manager Penney may well want to create a far more attacking brand of football than the one on display here but the continued defensive improvement in recent matches can not go unnoticed and should go hand in hand with the new boss' ambitions further up the park.

Tranmere: Achterberg, Jennings (Goodison 30), McCready, Sherriff, Tremarco, Shuker, McAteer, Mullin, Ellison (Greenacre 11), Taylor, Davies (Harrison 86). Subs: Ward, Jones, Greenacre, Goodison, Harrison.

Darlington: Russell, Duke, Holloway, Collins, N'Goma, Giallanza, Keltie (Cummins 62), Johnson (McLeod 89), Conlon (Wainwright 62), Logan, Rowson. Subs: Stockdale, Vaisanen, McLeod, Wainwright, Cummins.

Tranmere bookings: Davies, Achterberg, Goodison, McAteer.

Darlington bookings: Conlon, Keltie, Johnson, Logan, McLeod.

Goals: Giallanza 66th min (1-0)(pen).

Report by Kevin Luff.