Two stunning breaks either side of half time ensured Darlington avoided a descent into unchartered territory this season with the victory coming thanks to Julian Joachim and his wingmate Joe Colbeck. Given the magnitude of the hammering at Hereford Saturday's defeat temporarily cast a shadow of doubt over the credentials of Penney's side however they proved tonight they are made of sterner stuff, producing a solid yet uninspiring display but this was always going to take second fiddle to the result this evening more than any.

One moment of class separated the sides at half time, in fact it was just about the only bit of noticeable class at all as both sides slugged it out. Joe Colbeck continued from his impressive display at Hereford with his dynamic thrusting runs down the wide channels creating all sorts of problems for the opposition, the young loanee bares a striking resemblance to Wainwright ironically. However after bursting down the wing in the second minute leaving all and sundry in his wake his cross let him down but the promising opening signified plenty of intent from the hosts desperate to put the Edgar Street debacle well and truly behind them as soon as possible.

Consequently there was a nervous tension in the hosts play, often wrong decision were made, passing was jagged and inconsistent and basic errors were aplenty. But having just been thumped 5-1, you can excuse some anxiety at least on this occasion. Nevertheless the defence was firm, even if not at its best, and Shrewsbury were restricted to some fairly speculative efforts. Steve Leslie's fizzing cross box ball was the greatest danger the visitors posed early doors, thankfully no one was at home, whilst David Hunt's drive from distance had Stockdale on his toes but not overly concerned. Shrewsbury threatened seldom but very quickly and quite dangerously.

The game was on an even keel just before the half hour, both teams very respectful of each other and seemingly at times wary of their own frailties. A moment of magic was needed to spice up proceedings, and the connoisseur of the beautiful game certainly received this. Keltie fed in Austin on the right flank, a quick on two with his wing partner Joachim, he shimmied and dummied his marker before laying back a one-two to Austin running into space on the edge of the 18 yard box, cutting inside and sending the very dubious Garner the wrong way left footing simply into the bottom corner.

Who else? When the chips are down this man has proven time and time again he will get us out of scrapes at both ends of the pitch. Joachim is a master of his art, pure and simple. A goal briefly lifted the sparse crowd inside the mild Balfour Arena but no more goals followed before half time. A thunderous Keltie blunderbuster ten before the break set off like a rocket on the half volley after Shrews only half cleared the danger but garner got well behind it to get a firm pair of hands onto the shot.

John Brackstone, making his first league start for the Quakers since his summer move from Cleveland, nominated himself for set piece duties but unfortunately his eagerness to impress his new fans outweighed his prowess at the dead ball situation, twice cannoning the ball into the end of the wall and later dinking aimlessly into the box however the clearance from directed straight back into the mixer off Wright's head finding Foster to impeccably swivel on the six pence pulling the trigger destined to score only for a miraculous last ditch challenge from Ben Herd.

A drubbing for previous Darlington sides generally took more than three days to recover. But this side is different, it's got more steel, more resolve, a self belief that it can win both scrappily and beautifully, grind out wins and take teams to the cleaners. The second half offered more towards normality. The pace was upped, passing was crisp and the attack was reinvigorated, again energetic, chasing very lost cause fighting for each other. Darlington were a unit again.

After Shrewsbury's brief foray just after the restart Darlington got hold of the game. Attacking moves were slick and promising culminating in an absolute corker. After not receiving broad approval on his home debut, Joe Colbeck has proved a little gem over the past 180 minutes and the Bradford youngster showed exactly the minerals he is made from just on the hour mark. Picking up the ball on the edge of his own 18 yard box, he used his searing Duracell powered speed to get forward electrifyingly quickly, only Blundell and the Shrewsbury defender back on the half way line could keep up with him. He waited and waited until Blundell was level, played him wide made his run to the penalty spot received the ball back majestically and slotted past garner for quite possibly one of the best goals he will ever score, certainly the best of his young career so far.

In the past Shrewsbury have always been written off before somehow staging a miraculous late season run of form to catapult them into the play off mix. Well it's only November and Gary Peters' usually well marshalled and good footballing side were cutting a beaten side with over 15 minutes left on the clock. Their creativity was at a premium and so was their productivity even by using long ball tactics. Unremarkable maybe, but barring a couple of late scares a solid enough and, given the context of the game in respect to last Saturday, an absolutely vital win and a vital clean sheet.

Today was arguably one of Penney's biggest tests of the season. His team has showed flare and resolve when it needed to but today demonstrated promotion qualities. Bouncebackability, or whatever you want to call it, character and willing. It was scrappy at in the most part but importantly two moments of shear brilliance salvaged Saturday's blip form escalating into a crisis. Back on track, back in the goals, back to basics, back to the impregnable force at the back? Who knows, its going to be a long season and the chips will be down from time to time but come what May, Darlington will be definite top three contenders.

Darlington: Stockdale, Austin (Purdie 80), Foster, White, Brackstone, Joachim, Cummins, Keltie (Ravenhill 81), Colbeck, Blundell, Wright. Subs: Oakes, Miller, Johann Smith, Ravenhill, Purdie.

Shrewsbury: Garner, Darren Moss (Nicholson 70), Murdock, Langmead, Tierney, Herd, Drummond, Hunt (Hall 80), Leslie, Hibbert, Symes. Subs: Esson, Ashton, Pugh, Hall, Nicholson.

Darlington bookings: None.

Shrewsbury bookings: Murdock.

Goals: Joachim 27th min (1-0), Colbeck 63rd min (2-0).

Report by Garry Mann.