Screams of frustration, slamming of the turf, a missed penalty, five cheap goals and a whole heap of misery for Bristol Rovers. Under heavy grey skies with a January chill, oh we don't like to be beside the seaside as Morecambe delivered what Joey Barton rated as the worst performance of his near-two-year tenure with the Gas.
The big picture is still broadly positive for Rovers, 12th in League One after a second successive defeat, but within the confines of the 90 minutes, this was perhaps the new nadir of an eventful two years. To be clear, there have been lower moments with context taken into account, and the Gas have conceded more goals in a game – six against Lincoln in September – but these 90 minutes were as bad as it's been as a standalone performance.
Morecambe deserve full credit, giving Rovers two difficult games this season despite being in the midst of the relegation battle, and they have an excellent home record for a team at the wrong end of the table, but a lot of things had to go wrong for the Gas to find themselves 5-0 down as full time approached until Aaron Collins netted a consolation.
