The torture lasted right up to the final whistle for Darlington.

Promotion favourites back in August, this was their sixth successive defeat as they finished a non-achieving season five places off the bottom of the table.

There has been hardly anything positive to remember this season by, and the final whistle brought a merciful end to a fruitless campaign.

The patience of some supporters snapped again on Saturday, as the Quakers were completely outplayed by a Blackpool side due to play Hartlepool in the play-offs next week after they successfully ousted Rochdale for the last spot.

And they didn't have to do much to beat Quakers, so Pool's spies won't have learned a great deal for their clash.

You name it, embattled Quakers lacked it on Saturday. Passion, character, skill, thought and strength -there just weren't enough of those qualities as Quakers were brushed aside contemptuously in the second half.

Manager Gary Bennett has blamed bad luck in recent weeks, but there was nothing unlucky about the bad defending which handed the visitors three easy goals.

But it wasn't just poor defending against a team which was stronger in several departments.

Some of the passing was poor, there was a lack of movement, and in one or two cases, an unforgivable lack of commitment.

Bennett himself, was given a rough ride by the fans, a whopping 90 per cent of which (according to a poll on a fans' website) think that he shouldn't be offered a new contract, but the indications are that he will.

Big decisions need to be made during the summer.

The top priority is a striker who can score around 20 goals next season, but where will Quakers get one from?

Twelve different players have been tried in the forward line this season, and only one of them, Glenn Naylor, has clicked.

Contrast that with Blackpool's strikeforce of Brett Ormerod and John Murphy, who have scored 46 goals between them this season.

Director of Football Luke Raine has admitted that mistakes have been made, but the club now needs to make sure that it doesn't make many more, otherwise more and more fans will start to turn their backs on their side.

The sale of season tickets will be an accurate barometer at the start of July, and at the moment, the indications are not looking good at all.

The only one good thing to come out of Saturday's debacle is that chairman George Reynolds and Bennett should now be aware of the huge amount of work which needs to be done for next season.

Bennett has been depressed several times after defeats this season, but he was probably at his lowest ebb after the game.

To be fair, he didn't blame bad luck, or defend his players as he has done in the past.

"We were second best, and weren't a team," he said.

"We were too nice. Nice players and nice football don't get you anywhere in this game.

"The players must give a little more to enable them to get results - ability alone won't get them there.

"Some of them lack the desire and will to win - they just seem to accept things.

"For example, for the first goal, nobody did anything to stop the ball coming into our box. At the other end, when Glenn Naylor hit the post, and the ball ran along the line, where were our players?

"The players must be strong physically and mentally. Some of them seem to be looking around for somebody to lift them.

"The game told me something about the character of some of them. I wanted a lot more and I never got it.

"It has given me something to think about when we sort out the retained list next week."

Some fans demanded Bennett's resignation at various points during the game, and there was a sit-down protest in the Tin Shed at the end. Bennett said: "I'm as unhappy as the fans.

"I didn't walk around with a smile on my face at the end of the game - I was devastated at the way we played.

"I'm determined to get it right - if it means changing people about and bringing new players in, then we'll do it.

"I've learned a lot this season, and hopefully that has made me stronger."

The warning signs were there after just six minutes. David Brightwell miskicked and let in Paul Simpson, whose left-foot shot from the edge of the box came back off the bar.

Two minutes later, Blackpool were in front. Simpson curled a corner into the six-yard-box, where Ormerod powered a header into the roof of the net.

Quakers then had a good spell of pressure in which Naylor, who had to go off with an ankle injury just before half-time, hit the post from a free-kick, and Craig Liddle - who scooped four awards from the supporters club before the match - had a volley blocked.

Blackpool always seemed to have plenty in hand, but the Quakers got back into the game after 51 minutes, when Olivier Bernard nodded down a right-wing free-kick from Richard Hodgson for John Williams to prod past keeper Phil Barnes from six yards.

The Blackpool hordes were silenced, but not for long.

Five minutes later, Danny Shittu was left unmarked to meet another Simpson corner, and even though Andy Collett got his left hand on the tall centre-half's header, the ball went into the net off the inside of the post.

And within another five minutes, it was game over, when the defence opened up alarmingly for Richie Wellens to stroll through and easily beat Collett.

That was the cue for celebrations and demonstrations - and you don't need to be a genius to work out who was doing what.