.JPG) |
| Josh Gowling's Darlington side lost 8-0 on Tuesday evening |
The game got off to a bad start for the former Hereford manager, conceding, having a man sent off and an early injury.
Already 3-0 down by half time, the struggling National League North went on to concede another five in the second half.
According to journalist Thomas Feaheny, it's their heaviest loss since an 8-0 defeat against Watford in the League Cup in 1987. Gowling has struggled since joining the club in September, replacing sacked boss Alun Armstrong.
A win against Chester on Saturday lifted them from the foot of the table, and they remain 22nd because Bishop's Stortford and Gloucester also lost last night.
In his post-match interview, Gowling, who didn’t appear angry with his side’s performance, said: "I just think we put so much into Saturday. It's not an excuse because there's just no excuse for losing eight nil.
"No excuse whatsoever but we just looked a bit jaded against the side that are sixth in the league.
"They do play good football, I know Preecey [Chorley manager Andy Preece] well and he sets his teams up properly."
The interviewer then put to Gowling that fans are upset and have called it an absolutely awful performance.
He responded: "It wasn't great, was it? Let's be honest about it, there were little patches when we get in possession but at the end of the day we've lost 8-0.
"I can't say there's anything good about that performance because the result takes care of itself, doesn't it? It says was it is. It's poor.
"We've just got to keep pushing on.
"We've had a good result Saturday, we've climbed ourselves up. We had a good result at Farsley then we went to Peterborough and lost so there's something there that we need to work on to make sure we get more of that consistency."