ST Neots Town dropped out of the play-off places when they lost 3-2 to Gosport Borough at The Cozy Stadium on Saturday.

The Saints are now in sixth in the Southern League Premier table after picking up just one point since their dramatic 5-3 win over Bideford at home on November 10, over a month ago...

The previous week, manager Iain Parr had warned his players to stop throwing away points after they had lost 4-3 at Arlesey Town. But once again, there was something lacking when Gosport made the long journey from Hampshire and picked up all three points.

Goalkeeper Michael Duggan had a nightmare – he was at fault for all three goals, but the return of Dan Jacob (from suspension) and Adrian Sear (from Histon) did at least shake things up.

Ben Mackey was on hand to iron out an early problem when he scored an equaliser in the third minute after Duggan had failed to hold on to a first minute Gosport strike, but Duggan was lobbed for Gosport’s second, and in the 34th minute, a poor punch from the St Neots goalkeeper found Ed Adjei under pressure and the defender gave away a penalty with a careless push in the box. Adam Wilde made it 3-1.

Mackey had a penalty kick saved by the legs of Nathan Ashmore four minutes into the second half, but the striker scored a second spot kick – albeit a retaken one – with 20 minutes to go.

From that point St Neots should have put the Gosport’s goal under siege, but that they failed to do. Apart from one fierce shot by Jacob, that ended up going a yard wide, St Neots created little and only the width of the crossbar saved Duggan from conceding a fourth goal when a Thomas Dunford shot sailed over his head. “Hard work and confidence will get us out of this, I’m sure of it,” said Parr, who added he will be taking the team ‘back to basics’ this week. “We don’t become a bad team overnight,” he said.

St Neots: Michael Duggan, Jon-Paul Duncliffe, Ed Adjei, Adrian Sear, Jordan Gent, Gavin Hoyte, Lewis Hilliard, Jay Davies, Stefan Moore, Ben Mackey, Dan Jacob.