NON-LEAGUE football is about the holistic experience one can enjoy when travelling away from home. Going to places that you wouldn’t normally think of visiting, you find good pubs, welcoming club houses and some fabulous match day food.

So, having paid out the very reasonable £12 to get in to Chorley’s Victory Park, an immediate left turn took me in to the sort of club that would have Max and Paddy on the door when Saturday night comes. I can imagine many a game of bingo or dominos has been played in there but on this given night, it was the well-priced sanctuary for the Darlo fans who had made the trip across the Pennines. Premier lager for £3.10. Bonus!

After the clubhouse, it was on to the highlight of the night – the pie and peas. I was blown away by the quality displayed by the Chorley catering staff. What a pie!

So, the evening was definitely on an upward curve. The full non- league experience was being had. Then we got round to the game and, with the referee totally intent on ruining the evening for Darlo fans, he blew to start the game. It was downhill from there on in.

Whatever cunning plan we’d conjured to deal with a very decent Chorley side, it went straight out of the window with the penalty in the opening exchanges. Shell-shocked, we never really cleared our heads during the first half. When the referee decided he’d had enough of the first period, we were 3-0 down and frankly lucky the margin was that low. But for Adam Bartlett trying to do his finest Andy Collett versus Hartlepool impression, we could have trudged off at the half five or six down.

Credit where it’s due, the introduction of James Caton and Harvey Saunders added some spice to the team for ten to 15 minutes with the pair combining to pull a goal back. For a brief few minutes, we actually looked like we could claw our way back in to the game, but that momentum eventually fizzled out and the pattern of trying to keep Chorley out resumed.

Big credit goes to Bartlett and Saunders. Bartlett kept the game respectable (well, sort of) while Saunders’ tireless running kept the home side honest at the back although by the end of the game, his high work rate felt a bit like the band continuing to play while the Titantic sank.

Let’s pull no punches, this was a tough watch. Having talked up our promotion chances just a matter of weeks ago, Martin Gray tried to pour water on our chances post-game. Let’s be honest, despite looking the business in the first couple of weeks, we look a million miles from that now. Injuries have certainly taken their toll although we’ve conceded goals regardless of who lines up at the back. Defending is a team effort and at the moment, the whole team appear to be reneging on their responsibilities.

Going forward, we look laboured and one-dimensional. Launching straight long balls to Mark Beck when Chorley had three big centre halves just seemed wrong and yet for much of the first half, that seemed to be the only move we had. Meanwhile, when we tried to knock the ball around, it was done far too slowly. In the centre of midfield, rather than taking a touch and then playing the ball first time, all too often, the ball would be carried ten/15 yards in the direction of where the next pass was going to go, effectively telegraphing the intent to the Chorley players allowing them to be on the toes of the recipient before the ball had even got to him.

Regardless of injuries, there needs to be a marked improvement in performance from all involved, starting this Saturday at home to Leamington. Second bottom and finding the step up to this level hard, this is the perfect game to find our mojo – he says!