THERE was a chairman called George who once promised Darlington the world.

When all new owner George Houghton could offer was a change of fortune, David Hodgson could not help but smile at such a wicked sense of irony.

On the eve of Darlington's biggest game of the season, Houghton was unveiled as the man to succeed "accidental chairman" Stewart Davies.

With refreshing simplicity, and without vowing to bring Premiership football in five years, Houghton has so far committed only to bringing Quakers a pinch of luck.

But, after Saturday's crash course in all things Darlington, Houghton's conversation with Hodgson on Friday would come back to haunt the Tynesider in the most spectacular of fashions.

While Hodgson has been around long enough to know anything can, and invariably will happen, where Darlington are concerned, Houghton has been initiated in the harshest of manners.

The 65-year-old took official control of the club at 3pm on Saturday to coincide with kick-off.

But even that didn't go according to plan after the game was delayed 30 minutes due to crowd congestion - Carlisle's 3,549 travelling fans making a healthy contribution to Quakers' biggest gate since the Neasham Road ground first opened its doors in August 2003.

"We talked about luck," said Hodgson, who was forced to make a substitution before kick-off when Matty Appleby pulled up with a hamstring strain during warm-up. Appleby was replaced by Joe Kendrick. "The chairman said he would bring the football club some luck. Unfortunately we didn't have any."

The defeat leaves Quakers seven points shy of seventh with nine games remaining. By no means an impossible task, but after Saturday's capitulation of catastrophic proportions, it's difficult to see where, or even if, that ground will be made up.

Hodgson maintains that a play-off place can still be achieved, but in resorting to the words "mathematically possible", Quakers are up against it.

He said: "I have to keep my own head up because if I don't do that who is going to lift me up? Right now, I've got to sit down with these kids and pull them back up for Barnet.

"It can be done because it's still mathematically possible. If you have that to hang on to you hang on to it.

"We might as well throw the towel in if we don't think it can be done, but it can be done."

Hodgson may have been reflecting on a win had Simon Johnson found the net just moments before Kevin Gray broke the deadlock on the stroke of half-time.

Sweeping the ball forward after surviving Johnson's strike against the post, some hesitant defending from Quakers allowed Gray to loop his header over Sam Russell.

There may have been little to separate the sides in an end-to-end first half, but the first of three uncharacteristic errors from Russell set the tone for a second half collapse.

With an hour played, the ball rolled harmlessly back for Russell, and a clearance upfield from a player renowned for his kicking appeared imminent.

But, after a divot in the ground left Russell swiping at thin air, Derek Holmes made it two.

"The third goal was a killer, but the second, and the manner in which it was scored, just deflated us," admitted Hodgson.

"The way we conceded it was disheartening. It was a goal that knocks the confidence of the whole team.

"It could have been avoided. We do that week in, week out and Sam deals with them.

"We can split hairs here. We can talk about the ultimate negative or we can say it was an unfortunate event, which got Carlisle a second goal and put them in control."

Either way, any faint hopes Quakers had of reducing the arrears were firmly put to bed by the predatory instincts of former Sunderland and Newcastle United striker Michael Bridges.

Whether or not Carlisle gain promotion in May, the 27-year-old will surely be playing at a higher level next season.

Russell was still reeling from his howler two minutes earlier when Bridges, with pinpoint accuracy, rammed his shot across the beleaguered Quakers keeper and into the bottom corner.

Russell was then saved by the upright as Gray was denied his second goal of the afternoon.

After Neil Wainwright was denied by the agility of Keiren Westwood in the Carlisle goal, substitute Glenn Murray made it four for the visitors.

Russell was again at fault, this time allowing Murray's speculative effort from inside the area to squirm under his body.

In injury time Simon Grand compounded a miserable afternoon for Quakers when Russell - as red faced as his keeper's kit - could only get a hand to the lobbed header.