A stunning 30-yard strike by Craig Liddle stoked up Darlington's vigorous survival campaign. For three quarters of the match these sides had not raised a decent shot until he pounced on an overhead clearance from Rovers let back Ijah Anderson.
From well out on the right Liddle's shot flew into the far top corner leaving keeper Kevin Miller sitting bemused on the ground. Miller had made a couple of good stops as Darlington got on top but now the flood gates opened. The direct running of young Neil Teggart, on loan from Sunderland, tore the home defence apart.
Barry Conlon whipped in two late goals and Mark Convery had a certain looking goal cleared off the line. The way Rovers fell away underlined the problems facing acting manager Phil Bater as his team were booed off. Darlington's tiny band of 150 fans who had made the long journey from the North East were ecstatic. The confidence of their recent run - four games now without defeat - was reflected in the way Darlington carried the game to Rovers right from the start.
They won four corners in the first ten minutes and the last of them would have seen them go ahead if their skipper Neil Maddison had not swivelled off balance as the ball fell to him near the spot.
That miss began to look expensive as Rovers skipper Adam Barrett hauled his defence into shape. With Anderson launching a few hopeful home raids Rovers had a spell on top. But there was too little life in front of goal until Lewis Haldane came on for Paul Tait at half time.
Mike Price in Darlington's goal had one eventful spell. After two well timed interceptions he saw yellow when he brought down Junior Agogo a foot outside the box. There was a yellow card to for Chris Hughes before the incident was closed.
Two other Darlington players were also cautioned in the second half for decent but nothing was going to take the gloss off their win.