Bath City 2 Darlington 0

Bewildered Darlington supporters must be wondering if it can get any worse, and until Raj Singh backed Mark Cooper yesterday, they were questioning how much longer he was going to last as manager.

His team have now won only one of their last eight matches, they are languishing in the bottom half of the table, and Saturday's dire defeat at Bath City rests comfortably among the worst in the club's recent history.

They have suffered plenty of awful results in their time. The relegation season two years ago - when the club lost 32 of their 46 games - included more depressing days than most clubs endure in a decade.

But deservedly losing 2-0 against a bottom-of-the-table part-time team that were yet to win this season and had scored only five goals was unacceptable, a criminally poor result.

Bath were yet to keep a clean sheet in their 13 matches, yet keeper Glyn Garner did not have a save to make.

If there was any question that Quakers are in crisis, then surely nobody can remain in doubt now.

They used the same 4-3-3 formation that was successful in securing a win over Newport County last weekend and, aside from Michael Brough replacing the suspended Jamie Chandler, selected the same XI.

Darlington started brightly enough with Paul Arnison almost scoring a long-range goal after 25 seconds, the right-back's shot flying just off target.

But soon he suffered an ankle injury that meant Brough switched to right-back, with Chris Atkinson coming on for Arnison, and without a dogged, determined midfielder in the centre of the pitch, Darlington lost their way.

The defence had an unfamiliar look with Graham Lee the only regular alongside Greg Taylor, Kris Taylor and Brough - all considered primarily to be midfielders.

With the game passing Marc Bridge-Wilkinson by and with the three front-players - Liam Hatch, James Walshaw and Tadhg Purcell - failing to hold the ball up, Darlington lacked any threat.

Early in the second half substitutes John Campbell and Ryan Bowman were sent on for Walshaw and Purcell, but they made no impact.

Bath were not much better, but they created a handful of chances and after the break scored two quickfire goals.

On 69 minutes Marc Canham's corner was not cleared and an unmarked Sean Canham was on hand to fire into an empty net.

Within two minutes, a harmless ball up the right found striker Lee Phillips who turned easily past Greg Taylor and, despite the close attention of two Darlington defenders, was given all the time he needed to fire past Ole Soderberg.

Just like last season when they threw away a two-goal lead in injury time at Twerton Park, Darlington were stunned.

The only shot they had on target came when Quakers were already two goals behind. After a defensive mix-up, Campbell saw a looping effort from outside the penalty area headed off the line by Gethin Jones.

Hatch put a header on the top of the net from a Bridge-Wilkinson free-kick and that was as good as it got during a performance that was every bit as disjointed as the awful 3-0 defeat two weeks ago at home to Southport that led to some calling for Cooper to go.

Saturday's performance would have tested the resolve of even the staunchest of those backing Cooper to turn the situation around, just as he did last year.

Clearly that is what Singh is hoping he can do. As well as the chairman's support, Cooper continues to enjoy the support of a significant number of fans who would love to see him become a success.

Cooper was backed by over 60 per cent of voters in a recent poll on The Northern Echo website and to many he remains in credit for his achievements last season, particularly at Wembley.

That he and assistant Richard Dryden clearly care has not gone unnoticed. Nobody races on to the pitch after a last-minute winner if they do not care greatly.

Bath boss Adie Britton did something similar on Saturday, his celebrations after the first goal briefly took him on to the pitch and he was almost in tears as he conducted a post-match interview, such was his relief at finally securing a victory.

The emotions were similarly raw for Darlington. After the game Dryden shook hands with a small group of supporters and apologised for what they had witnessed.

It was more than most Darlington players did, many of which headed straight for the changing room at full-time instead of thanking the fans for making a 550-mile round trip only to be rewarded with a pitiful 90 minutes.

The flak was flying at full-time with many supporters telling the players exactly what they thought while there were also harsh words said in the changing room.

Dryden revealed: "A few words were said by me and Mark, and there were a few senior pros talking too, and you need that.

"If your career is at stake and you're running around putting a shift in, but some people aren't or they're afraid of jumping for a header in case they get hit, then it's disappointing.

"When I was playing, if a senior pro said something you'd take it on board and tried to learn from it. Hopefully the things that were said today people will take on the chin, go home and think about."

Like Cooper, Dryden remains determined, and he added: "We both want to be a success. As a player I was probably one of the biggest over-achievers going, but I was always on the training ground doing a bit more to try and get fit and working on my game.

"I played for some big clubs, but the sides I played for, apart from one, were always fighting to stay up - that's how I am, I'm a fighter, not a quitter.

"We are determined to get it right and it's only four or five months ago that we won the Trophy.

"We had a bit of a blip last year around this time of the season. But we sat down on it, reflected, we turned it around and we will do it again."

Now that he has the public backing of the chairman, Cooper's position has been strengthened.

Any player that had been hoping for a new boss and a fresh start knows he must now pull his finger out - starting tomorrow night at Stockport County.

Matchfacts

Goals: 1-0: S Canham (69, swept home from close-range after Darlington failed to deal with a corner) 2-0: Phillips (71, held off G Taylor as he cut inside from the right before firing low past Soderberg)
Bookings: S Canham (5, foul); Lee (18, foul); Bridge-Wilkinson (90, foul)
Referee: John Hopkins (Wickford) – Bath felt he should have showed a red to Walshaw for an elbow on Gallinagh, but none of the bookings could be disputed 7
Attendance: 1,156
Entertainment: *

BATH CITY (4-4-2): Garner 6; Gallinagh 6, CLOUGH 7, Jones 7, Stonehouse 5; Connolly 6, M Canham 7, Burnell 7 (Rollo 84), Hogg 6; S Canham 7 (Russell 82), Phillips 7 (Cook 90). Subs (not used): Murray, Watkins

DARLINGTON (4-3-3)

5 Soderberg: Dropped a cross in the first half, but got away with it and was not at fault for the goals;
6 Arnison: Started the game well and almost scored after 25 seconds with a long-range effort that was just inches wide
6 Lee: Conceded a couple of cheap first half free-kicks and collected a booking that rules him out of tomorrow’s match
6 G Taylor: Got his head to plenty of crosses in a decent outing at centre-back, but was turned too easily for the second goal
5 K Taylor: A decent effort at left-back which included no real faults other than the occasional sloppy pass down the line;
6 Brough: Came through his first 90 minutes since last season, but missed in central midfield after replacing Arnison
4 McReady: Some nice touches occasionally, but, like the rest of midfield, did not see enough of the ball
4 Bridge-Wilkinson: Went missing for lengthy spells, not for the first time this season, though the ball being pumped over his head does not play to his strengths;
4 Walshaw: Received very little service so was unable to make an impact – no surprise when substituted
4 Hatch: The story could have been so different had he not put a header just over after Bath’s second goal
4 Purcell: Did not receive the ball enough and when he did he lost possession too often

Subs
Atkinson (for Arnison 19): Dryden said he was happy Atkinson “put a shift in”, but unable to provide the physical presence required 5
Bowman (for Purcell 52): Put plenty of effort in, but there was no end product 4
Campbell (for Walshaw 52): Only on the periphery of proceedings 4
Not used: Russell (gk), Rundle

MAN OF THE MATCH
CHARLIE Clough – The shavenheaded centre-back won a succession of aerial balls in both penalty areas and kept Quakers’ forwards quiet