Penney plays down good start to the season
Posted on 9th September 2007
Darlington continued their excellent start to the season with a 2-0 win at Rotherham. The Millers are expected to be challenging for promotion along with Darlington but the visitors dispatched them with a goal in each half. Rotherham piled on the pressure in the second half but Darlington defended well. Afterwards manager Dave Penney admitted Millmoor was always going to be a hard place to come to.
“I think you would have taken a point before the game,” said the Darlington boss. “It was always going to be a tough place to come as they were unbeaten. I have seen them play twice before, once live and once on television and they are tough defensively, quite direct and I thought we dealt with that well. We caused a few of our own problems by giving away cheap free-kicks but it was a good performance.”
Both of Darlington’s goals were set up by Julian Joachim who has been used out wide on the right flank since the start of the campaign. The former Aston Villa player has had plenty of success there and laid on both goals in this latest fixture. The forward also worked hard at the back in an impressive display.
“He was fantastic,” said Penney. “We’ve asked him to do a job out there and he has been great. He is enjoying his football. He may not be getting as many chances as he would like but he is a threat when you get him faced up and going the right way. Last season he had his back to goal too much. Today he had to help Austin out defensively because he has been out for two or three weeks with an injury and I was pleased with him.”
Following the second goal Quakers never looked like letting the lead slip as they did against Notts County two games ago. “The second goal killed the match off and we were more professional than we were against Notts County. We were actually screaming at Gregg Blundell to have a shot but the lads have obviously learnt from the game at Notts County because they took it into the corner and wasted time,” said the Darlington manager.
Darlington now find themselves top but Penney is playing things down for now. He said: “It is still early doors. We have played five games and we are delighted with the start we have had, of course. Three wins and four clean sheets from five is great but it is a marathon and not a sprint. There will be a lot of twists and turns and if we are in the same position come May then we will be thrilled.”
Earlier Darlington news
Keltie has nothing to prove to us - PenneyYet another new name for Darlington’s groundQuakers keeper not going on loanDarlington defender not satisfiedWarning for Quakers ahead of MacclesfieldDarlington defender extends loan dealReserves are so important says Quakers’ bossDarlington can bounce back says PurdieMiller could exit QuakersQuakers’ boss backs Ince to beat dropNo long wait for DarlingtonHorwood and Wheater extend Quakers’ dealsShow me what you can do urges Darlington bossRussell returns for QuakersProfessional job declares Quakers’ boss