Darlington conceded inside the first minute and went onto lose their crunch match 2-1 to fellow strugglers King’s Lynn Town.

Both sides came into the contest in the relegation zone on one win each, with the Linnets having not won away since last season. 

But Quakers remain bottom after being beaten by a King’s Lynn side gifted their goals courtesy of soft defending, which has been Darlington’s undoing this season.

From kick-off, Cameron Salkeld gave the ball away on the halfway line, and Jack Hannah was caught flat-footed leaving King’s Lynn forward Josh Barrett to dribble towards goal and fire past David Robson to stun Blackwell Meadows into silence.

Timed at 19 seconds, it was the worst possible start for Josh Gowling’s Darlington, but they responded well.

Will Hatfield and debutant Jonny Ngandu both had shots from outside the penalty area, while Toby Lees missed a golden chance with a header.

Lees was soon off the hook, however, when Jacob Hazel scored a header moments later.

He connected with a left-wing cross to make it 1-1 after 16 minutes, but it was not long before King’s Lynn led again, when barrel-chested Barrett netted after more poor defending.

After Darlington were repeatedly unable to clear a free-kick, Barrett was allowed to shoot across goal, the ball bundled over the line by Jake Lawlor, though the King’s Lynn striker will be credited with it.

It could have got worse for Quakers; Robson tipped a Ben Stephens shot over, and just before the break centre-back Joshua Coulson, after turning like an oil tanker to go past Tom Platt, fed Barrett but the striker was denied a hat-trick by Robson’s save.

Darlington were better in the second half, when there was lots of effort but there was a lack of quality.

The closest they came to scoring came when Hatfield made a penetrating run and played in Andrew Nelson but his shot hit the post.

Hatfield was booked when Thomas Wilson believed Quakers’ captain had dived to win a penalty, one of a number of odd decisions by the referee that were difficult to understand.

He also booked Platt despite making a strong but clean challenge on Barrett, and had his notebook out again in the 89th minute to show King’s Lynn’s Adam Crowther a second yellow card for dissent.

But the referee was not the reason defensively weak Darlington alarmingly lost to opposition who were also poor. 

It was rock-bottom Quakers' third defeat in a row, a result that leaves them four points from safety and Gowling searching for his first win as manager after four games.

Darlington (3-5-2): Robson; Lees, Hannah (Rivers 83), Lawlor; Hedley (Liddle 90), Platt, Ngandu, Hatfield, Salkeld; Hazel, Nelson. Subs not used: Sukar, Mustoe, Harker

King’s Lynn Town (3-4-1-2): Jones; Coulson, Crowther, McFadden; Isaacson, Hargreaves, Morrison, Clifford; Stephens (Walker 76); Barrett (Spence 83), Cybulski (Oke 90). Subs not used: Fatadjo, Key