A MISERABLE day for Darlington saw them pushed into unfamiliar territory with a third successive home defeat, and Alan While exacerbated the problems by being sent off for shoving a linesman.

At the end of a game in which he had conceded Marine’s match-winning penalty by pushing an opponent, he had an altercation with Asa McDonough and the repercussions could be severe.

While nothing like Paulo Di Canio’s infamous two-handed shove on Paul Alcock in 1998, the incident will not look good on the referee’s report and White can expect a lengthy ban, especially if the Football Association take into account his two red cards last season.

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The incident was followed by the defender becoming embroiled in a brief verbal spat with an irate fan in the main stand at Heritage Park, tempers fraying in the aftermath of another home loss, both had to be held back, the sorry episode completing an awful afternoon.

They probably deserved the 1-0 defeat, a result which means they have now won only once in six matches, a run familiar to poor form 12 months ago.

Back then they did not win in six fixtures, before recovering to win eight league matches on the bounce. But that was in the division below, and as manager Martin Gray is keen to point out, the standard of opposition is now a grade higher and victories harder to come by.

“What’s happened at this football club for three and a bit seasons is that we’ve had nothing but success. We’ve had times in these three years when we’ve lost a game and everyone starts pointing the finger,” said the manager, who says he did not see White’s altercation with McDonough.

“It’s easy to forget where we started. We’ve come into a new league, a better league, playing better teams and better players, and you’re going to have problems.

“We’re going to lose games because teams are better and we’ve got to be conscious of that. The expectations are high because we set them so high.

“We didn’t have a club three and a half years ago, so there’s no reason to get critical at all.”

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Fair criticism on Saturday would be that a pedestrian Darlington failed to muster a shot on target, a major disappointment especially considering new striker Lee Gaskell was handed a debut.

He had some nice touches, but must’ve spent the drive back to Manchester wondering if he’d made the right decision as his new team-mates failed to create a chance for him – blunted by a team with the best defence in the division – but Quakers badly missed the creative talents of Tom Portas.

The midfielder went off after five minutes with a hamstring strain, that will sideline him for weeks, and was replaced by the hard-working but limited Leon Scott.

In the first half it was Darlington who did all the running without any joy in front of goal, Marine absorbing their forward play.

Nathan Cartman was presented with two difficult headers and had a shot on the turn from the corner of the penalty area, while at the beginning of the second half White saw a close-range header blocked.

The longer the game went on, the more Marine looked like scoring. Midfielder Carl Peers was a central figure in their attacks, while tall striker Andrew Owens caused problems.

Jamie Menagh was unfortunate when he cut in from the left and hit a dipping shot which skimmed the roof of the net.

Gray gambled, withdrawing wingers Stephen Thompson and Rob Youhill, switching to 4-3-3, so Graeme Armstrong joined Gaskell and Cartman on the pitch.

But Darlington remained blunt, the visitors stood firm and got their winner via Lloyd Ellams from the penalty spot on 76 minutes after White pushed Lewis Codling.

However, Gray said: “I was a long way from the penalty, the referee was a lot closer. The player was going away from goal, I don’t think it was any different to the push on Phil Turnbull in the first half.

“Alan’s reaction shows you how disappointing it was, but I thought it was a very poor game by the referee.”

Late on Quakers felt a Cartman shot was blocked by a hand in the penalty area, and Darlington’s day got even worse after the final whistle when White was red-carded.

It was his seventh Darlington dismissal in almost 200 appearances going back to when he first joined in 2007.

The first game of his suspension will coincide with the last of Chris Hunter’s three-match ban.

“We had a good half a dozen players below par,” added Gray.

“That was the biggest disappointment, that the Marine keeper didn’t have any save to make at all. It’s the first time in a long time that we haven’t created any problems inside the 90 minutes.

“There’s no need to panic. We know that we had a good half a dozen players below par. I’ll stick behind my players and they will stick by me.

“We put out a very similar team and beat Blyth and put in a great performance, we just know that we’ve got to be better all-round.

“I’ve said to the players that you’ve had lots of pats on the back and it’s important now to show togetherness. We pride ourselves on having a very strong dressing room.

“I know my players and they know me, and I’m confident that we will be ready for our next game.”

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