A lack of passion, a paucity of spirit and desire – the manager’s frank post-match assessment has become depressingly familiar. 

There was very little romance in a four-hour Valentine’s Day trek to the far north of Cumbria and there was certainly no love from Rob Smith as he gave his verdict on his team’s sixth league defeat of the season. 

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His conclusion was possibly a little harsh on a Workington side whose recent form has been very much at odds with their precarious league position. 

Important victories over the likes of Gateshead, Gainsborough and Stalybridge have been complemented by impressive cup wins over Tamworth and Barrow. 

That the Bucks can now be added to that roll of honour was down to another committed performance that started with defenders prepared to throw themselves in front of every ball and ended with forwards willing to run for every lost cause. 

That whole-hearted commitment was exactly what Smith and assistant Larry Chambers wanted to see from their side and what, to be honest, they just didn’t get. 

There could be no criticism of the centre-backs Stuart Whitehead and Indy Khela, both of whom were the very model of consistency, nor of midfielder Jamie Vermiglio, who fought like the proverbial tiger. 

Elsewhere though, this was a side who, when the heat was on in the second half, looked depressingly like they were going through the motions. 

Delivery from both flanks was poor, while Vermiglio’s positive example was not really supported by his fellow midfielders. 

It might have been a different story had the Bucks taken any of the several decent chances that came their way in the first half or early in the second. 

New boy Mark Danks had a goalbound shot blocked brilliantly by Phil McLuckie and Whitehead’s header off the resulting corner was even more impressively kept out by keeper Adam Collin. 

Danny Carey-Bertram was also denied by the acrobatic Collin, who tipped his glanced header off Danks’ chip over the bar. 

Substitute Liam Blakeman, on for the injured Jon Adams, and Vermiglio both had efforts blocked early in the second half, while Carey-Bertram dithered in the six-yard box and failed to make anything out of Edwards’ best delivery of the game. 

Still, Workington had served notice of what they can do and should have been ahead on the half hour after James Meredith gave the ball away on the halfway line. 

McLuckie picked it up and played Arnison in with an excellently-weighted through ball. The striker did the hard part in rounding Young but then shot into the side-netting from a narrow angle on the right. 

His goal was a near carbon copy 25 minutes into the second half, McLuckie again given space to play him in and this time the tall hitman made no mistake from the left side. From there on there was only going to be one winner – and the margin could have been more convincing. 

Anthony Wright had Young beaten all ends up with a 25-yard strike and was desperately unlucky to see it come crashing back off the bar. 

And, right at the death, Arnison broke to the byline and slid a pass across the six-yard box which was just begging to be tucked away but somehow evaded everyone. 

A confrontation between Whitehead and Arnison led to a late flare-up that continued in the tunnel after the final whistle, but that just added to the bitter taste in the away fans’ mouths. 

Their side appeared to have turned the corner with three straight away wins but this was a showing that brought back memories of the Stafford, Hyde and Fleetwood horror shows in January. 

Those supporters have now seen four defeats in the last eight outings. 

There’s no escaping the fact that is not even close to promotion form.

By Chris Hudson