John Smith's PNE fans panel verdict: A draw that felt like a defeat

In a similar fashion, I also felt like I had entered a ‘New World’ when I eventually reached our destination in South Devon.

In 1620, it had taken The Pilgrims 65 days to cross the Atlantic and form a new colony of settlers.

Our management duo had been in charge roughly the same amount of time as their voyage had taken, with Saturday’s game coming on the 68th day of their employment in the Deepale hotseat.

Having cruised into a 3-0 lead after just 48 minutes, it looked like their colony was set to become even more firmly established and we were finally going to win an away league game at the 11th time of asking

Our last away league win had come at the same venue in March and, at this point, a 3-0 lead looked unassailable as Argyle had barely threatened our goal.

Every time we attacked, we looked like we could have added to our tally and we looked by far the better of the two sides.

Our fans were in a celebratory mood with many of them chanting loudly, forecasting that Argyle manager Wayne Rooney would be having his employment terminated the following morning.

However, to their credit, the home side’s fans backed their team vociferously – even at 3-0 down – and undoubtedly spurred them on to what was an amazing comeback.

I cannot put into words why we went from playing like a smooth-running Ferrari in top gear to a coughing and spluttering Robin of Del Boy proportions in a short space of time.

Moments after my man of the match Sam Greenwood had a shot saved, which could have made it 4-0, Argyle went straight upfield and pulled a goal back.

It shouldn’t have made too much difference but, unfortunately, it did and gave the home side some renewed impetus.

The way the fans roared their team on at 1-3 is something our home crowd could learn a lot from.

At times, the atmosphere at Deepdale these days seems very flat unless we are winning or it’s a derby.

Our defending could have been better for their goals but, in all honesty, there is no excuse for throwing away a 3-0 lead in 45 minutes unless the opposition was Real Madrid or Barcelona.

I cannot remember us doing this for many, many years – since our League One days.

If Len Goodman, the late head judge on Strictly Come Dancing, was summing up this performance he would definitely have been able to use his favourite catchphrase of ‘parts were magic, parts were tragic’.

It is the tragic parts of our game which we must eliminate in order to prevent this happening again.

Football is a results-based business but, having led for so long and by such a large margin for most of the game, to be pegged back in injury time was a crushing blow and it felt a bit like a defeat on the long journey home.