'Tough to absorb' - South Shields boss reflects on Darlington defeat

South Shields interim manager Elliott Dickman admitted it was ‘tough to absorb’ the events of his side’s 4-0 home defeat against National League North rivals Darlington.

The Quakers travelled to the 1st Cloud Arena looking to kickstart their push to avoid relegation and they received an early boost when Mariners captain Robert Briggs was shown a straight red card for bringing down former team-mate Cedric Main as he made his way in on goal.

Dickman’s side showed plenty of effort, endeavour and organisation to frustrate their visitors until 18 minutes from time when midfielder Will Hatfield opened the scoring before setting up Main to double the lead minutes later. The Mariners were reduced to nine men in the closing stages when Will Jenkins saw red for a strong challenge on Matty Cornish and further salt was rubbed into the wounds when Kallum Griffiths and former Sunderland forward Mitch Curry took Darlington out of sight with two late goals.

Dickman praised his side for their first-half performance following Briggs’ dismissal but stressed they failed to reach the required levels after half-time as they fell to their biggest home defeat of the season.

He told The Gazette: “It was difficult, it’s tough to absorb what’s just gone on there.

“In the first-half, we were good without the ball and made it difficult for them. It’s never easy with eleven men in any game so to be down to ten so early in the game meant it was always going to be a tricky test for us. That discipline, concentration and focus to maintain those levels have let us down a little bit in the second-half I think and the second red card has killed us bit before we conceded two very preventable late goals. We are really disappointed but the main thing is we still did some really good things, we have played well in previous games and we just need to make sure we show a really good reaction to today moving forwards.”

Former Newcastle United coach Dickman refused to criticise referee Alex Sawden for his decision to dismiss Briggs and Jenkins and leave his side facing an uphill battle against a Darlington side that have struggled to find form throughout the season. The Mariners boss accepted his side would have to ‘take the consequences’ of each decision and stressed being the man in the middle making those calls is far from an easy task.

He explained: “Being a referee is a difficult job anyway but I thought both red cards were harsh - but I would say that and I am sure Steve (Watson, Darlington manager) would think otherwise. That’s fine, everyone is entitled to their opinion.

“We lost our way on the first goal, lost our shape from a free-kick, there was a long way for the lad to run and I could understand if it was another 10 or 15 yards further forward because there’s a long way to run and we had bodies coming back. I guess the letter of the law will state that is what it is but we feel he had a long way to go. For the second one, Will has gone in for a tackle, and if we can’t tackle anymore then the game is going to become passive. I think it’s a harsh one - but it’s not easy being a referee, he has to make those decisions, he made those choices and we have to take the consequences.”

The Mariners are back in action on Tuesday night when Scunthorpe United visit the 1st Cloud Arena.