It was the outcome that became sadly inevitable.

Mark Cooper delivered Darlington's greatest day in May at the end of a season which offered encouragement for the future. But less than six months on Cooper and his assistant Richard Dryden last night left The Northern Echo Arena for the final time, Saturday's dismal defeat at Braintree Town being the final straw for chairman Raj Singh.

He took action, with regret he admitted, after a dreadful run that has seen Quakers slide down the table to 14th after suffering five defeats in the last eight games.

That made it eight defeats already - it took them until the eighth month of last term to reach that tally, an indication of how disappointing this campaign has been in comparison.

Lifting the FA Trophy final in May was meant to be the springboard for promotion.

Cooper's first season at the helm saw Quakers finish the campaign seven points outside the play-offs and then came the Wembley win thanks to Chris Senior's last minute winner when the manager made his infamous pitch invasion.

It provided the club with an iconic moment and steering the club to its first silverware for 20 years helped engender support for Cooper from fans whose optimism rocketed.

Cooper bolstered the squad, bringing in players with a Football League pedigree such as Graeme Lee, Kris Taylor and Adam Rundle so Singh and the supporters expected an assault on promotion.

But the results speak for themselves. There have been concerns since the second Saturday of the season when Quakers lost 1-0 at Tamworth and that set the tone.

On home soil Darlington were unable to beat the likes of Alfreton Town, Hayes & Yeading, Southport and Barrow as Cooper's side laboured from one embarrassing defeat to the next and the manager was seemingly helpless to prevent the downturn in fortunes.

He switched from one formation to the next, trying various line-ups, along the way, but nothing seemed to work, unlike last season when the ‘diamond' midfield worked a treat.

The capture of play-maker Marc Bridge-Wilkinson was key to that success and he was one of the club's successes last term, but he has hardly figured this season.

Cooper felt Bridge-Wilkinson and the rest of the squad, most of which were his signings, were all given a chance to prove themselves.

Only Sam Russell, Jamie Chandler, Ian Miller and Paul Arnison were not his recruits, yet several - Chandler, Kris Taylor and Michael Brough - revealed lately that the state of affairs was their responsibility and not the manager's.

Too many of them let down themselves, the fans and, most crucially, Cooper and no doubt those same players will suddenly find a new lease of life when a new boss is appointed.

Perhaps some will point to regular dressing room shouting matches and frequent post-match criticism as being factors in not being at their best.

Harsh assessments - he called one of his players "dopey" on Saturday, for example - may have been to the players' detriment, but from a personal point of view Cooper was a joy to work with.

Unpredictable, generous with his time, capable of giving a pithy after-match comment or an off-the-record steer, Cooper made a hack's job far easier than it can be.

However, after the Bath defeat a fortnight ago, a performance every bit as bad as Saturday's, Cooper handed media duties over to Dryden for the second time this season and it appeared the end was nigh.

He survived and yet, for all of Darlington's struggles, he retained substantial support. Cooper polled over 60 per cent of the votes in a recent vote on The Northern Echo website with fans desperate to see the man who brought them their greatest day replicate last season's Trophy triumph with a promotion.

Nobody would say they are pleased it has come to this, but results speak for themselves.

As Cooper demonstrated himself by releasing Senior four days after his Wembley goal, in football there's no room for sentiment.