'Embarrassed' Shaun Gale offers apology to Gosport Borough travelling support after 'scary' Beaconsfield defeat

Boro also had midfielder Luke Hallett dismissed having picked up a second yellow card with 20 minutes of normal time still to play as they went down 7-2 in Buckinghamshire.

Such was Gale's level of frustration following the thumping, he apologised to the travelling faithful who made the trip.

But with Gosport still sitting in sixth position despite the heavy defeat, the Boro boss stressed his squad cannot afford for this to become a 'season-defining' moment with a play-off place still well within their grasp with eight league games left to play.

Gale fumed: ‘We gave away such horrendous goals - it was quite scary with the ease they were able to score - which has not been a feature of us.

‘We need to sit down and digest. Obviously I was angry, I was embarrassed, but the lads were massively disappointed as well.

‘Maybe it’s the youth in the team - the enthusiasm to try to get something back after a poor first-half performance - but we left ourselves so exposed and we can’t play like that.

‘I’ve been around the game long enough. We need to make sure, a) that doesn’t happen again and make sure we get back on the horse very quickly.

‘I’m going to pick the players up and make sure we don’t go the wrong way now. Do you go overboard about it? No. But it’s how we react to it now, it’s an eight-game season, what we don’t want it to become is a season-defining moment.’

Nathan Minhas reacted quickest after Boro's Brighton loanee stopper Fynn Talley could only parry a shot to hand the hosts a 22nd-minute lead.

Minhas made it two just nine minutes later, finding the net with a tidy finish after cutting inside before former Hawks midfielder Scott Donnelly added a third from the penalty spot in first-half stoppage-time.

Gale switched to a back three at the break, introducing Elliott Wheeler after his recent ankle injury and Covid absence, which appeared to have a positive effect with Dan Wooden getting the slightest of touches on a Harry Kavanagh free-kick to make it 3-1 on 61 minutes.

But the worst was to come for Boro as Hallett was given his marching orders 10 minutes later after picking up two bookings for a 'harsh' dismissal in Gale's eyes.

Ollie McCoy added a fourth for the hosts just minutes later, opening the floodgates for a late flurry on Beaconsfield goals.

In fact, McCoy would strike a 13-minute hat-trick with a further two efforts while Kaine Kenedy-Sinclair also netted on 78 minutes as Beaconsfield were 7-1 in front with six minutes of normal time left to play.

Substitute Matt Paterson did at least add a Boro second late on but that could not mask the huge disappointment of Gale, who was forced to watch things unravel from the stands after receiving a one-game touchline ban for an accumulation of four yellow cards this season.