THE legacy of losing two key players in the recent stormy FA Cup tie against Bridlington Town came back to haunt Guisborough Town against a ruthless North Shields side as they swept aside the Priorymen by 8-0 at the KGV Stadium last Saturday.

But it wasn’t just the absence of two important players in Thibault Charmey and Pete Bulmer for three matches which caused the most worry after this eight-goal annihilation – Guisborough’s worst defeat in the past decade. It was the manner of the crushing defeat and the way in which the Priorymen seemed to drop their heads and capitulate almost as soon as they conceded the first goal in the 20th minute.

By half-time, the rampant Robins had stormed into a 4-0 lead and any lingering hopes of a second-half comeback evaporated within 15 minutes of the re-start as the visitors went 5-0 up. By the final whistle, three more goals had been added to complete a miserable day for the shell-shocked Priorymen and their fans.

After the game, Guisborough manager Steve Dowling said: “I would like to apologise to all our supporters for my team’s performance today, albeit against a very good North Shields team.

"The display was unacceptable and I take full responsibility for it as it is my team. You get high and lows in football and I think that's as low as it gets. I’m not making excuses, but sometimes it is easy to forget just how young these lads are, with no fewer than seven of them being under 21, and of course we lost seven of our best players in the summer.

"We struggled to get into the game right from the first minute and conceded some poor goals that could and should have been avoided. We seemed to lack energy, passion and desire – three things that should be a ‘given’ game in, game out.

"Hopefully these young lads will learn from this experience."

One pleasing aspect of the game was the total of £379 raised for the Fists up for Frankie appeal, which aims to raise funds for three-year-old Tyneside boy Frankie Sherwood, who is suffering from a rare form of cancer. His plight has touched the hearts of many clubs and their supporters throughout the Northern League and a huge fundraising initiative is underway.

Guisborough Town decided to donate the proceeds of the match raffle to the Frankie appeal and £151 was raised, which the club rounded up to £200. A bucket collection around the ground then raised just over £179, boosting the final total for the day to £379.