AS honeymoon periods go, Jimmy Quinn must feel like the groom who discovered his bride had been having an affair with the best man as the newlyweds set off for the airport.

Just 12 days into office, new boss Quinn was forced to preside over a calamitous defeat and an impoverished display that set the alarm bells ringing at Dean Court.

The manager's hot seat must feel more like an electric chair to Quinn as Cherries' early-season slump has now developed into a full-blown crisis.

While watching Cherries lose their previous home league game to Exeter was hard to stomach, the manner of this reverse was enough to make the home crowd dog-sick.

Beaten by Gareth Evans's opportunist strike after 85 seconds, Cherries were then unable to fashion a reply after the goalscorer had been sent off with just 17 minutes on the clock.

At least Quinn was honest in his assessment of proceedings. "It was painful to watch at times," conceded the Ulsterman.

"There was fear in our play and I don't like to see that. It's not a fear of winning, it's a fear of losing and we've got to rise above that.

"It may get worse before it gets better but I'll certainly give these lads all the confidence I can to go out and play."

With just three points garnered from their opening six games, the signs are that Cherries' stay in League Two might be a short one.

Firmly entrenched in the bottom two and with the trapdoor to non-league starting to creak, this latest showing sent shivers down the spine of every concerned Cherries follower.

And with the Liberal Democrats having arrived in town on Saturday, talk among most Cherries supporters at the final whistle was about a different Conference.

With Luton and Rotherham having made significant inroads into their respective points deductions, Cherries can ill afford any further slip-ups on home soil.

This must-win, home banker was settled when Cherries were left to count the cost of another defensive aberration as Macclesfield made a mockery of the bookies' odds.

Quinn is likely to have kittens when he watches a re-run of the goal as the space Evans was afforded and the ease with which he scored was frightening.

The striker ghosted in behind three defenders and fastened on to Terry Dunfield's hopeful punt over the top before setting off towards goal.

He benefited from a distinct lack of closing down and adroitly slipped the ball past Shwan Jalal just as Joel Ward and Jason Pearce arrived on the scene, somewhat belatedly.

"The defending was poor," said Quinn. "I'll have a look at the video before I make a proper analysis but he ran for 30 or 40 yards straight on top of the goal without any of our defenders going towards the goal.

"I told the players before the game that if they defended properly and kept a clean sheet it would go a long way to winning so it was tough when we conceded after a few minutes.

"But I was still confident that we would get back into the game and maybe go on to win it but we couldn't get that breakthrough."

Quinn, who started watching from a seat in the directors' box, arrived in the dugout midway through the first half, just after the Silkmen had been reduced to 10 men following the dismissal of Evans.

Having led with his left elbow and caught Darren Anderton during an aerial challenge, the striker received a straight red card for violent conduct. Described by Macc boss Keith Alexander as a "ridiculous" decision, the incident took place in full view of referee David Phillips.

Alexander, speaking before he had seen a replay of the flashpoint, said: "I wasn't too far away and didn't see anything wrong.

"I spoke to the referee at half-time and he said he saw an elbow so we'll have to look at the video.

"I don't think there was a person in the ground that saw anything wrong with the challenge and it was ludicrous that we had to play 80 minutes with 10 men."

Alexander is likely to change his tune once he has seen the video as Evans was clearly in the wrong. However, the numerical disadvantage seemed to affect Cherries more than it did the visitors.

Cherries failed miserably to exploit Macclesfield's tactic of preserving rather than adding to their lead and their goalkeeper Jonny Brain dealt comfortably with long-range threats.

Quinn said: "Our forward play wasn't up to scratch at times and you need to produce quality in those areas to score goals.

"The stats were good. There were a lot of crosses into the box and although you would have to say they defended well, we've got to be better than that."

While Anderton shone like a lighthouse surrounded by a sea of mediocrity, Cherries were blunted by an outstanding display of defending, led by Paul Morgan and Shaun Brisley.

The visitors' only real slice of good fortune saw James Jennings escape with a booking following his awful tackle on Warren Cummings.

Brett Pitman was errant with two first-half chances before Brain's first meaningful save came from Jeff Goulding's header after 77 minutes, the substitute also going close with an earlier effort that flew past the upright.

Sandwiched between Danny Hollands seeing a shot fizz past the post and Brain parrying Anderton's low drive in the closing stages, Jalal saved from Matthew Flynn after the Cherries goalkeeper's poor throw had led to the chance.

Boos and chants of "what a load of rubbish" suggest Quinn may have his work cut out to ensure his marriage to Cherries will be a happy one.

He certainly finds them in sickness rather than in health.