TWO goals in the final five minutes condemned Wimborne Town to a defeat which left the dressing room "absolutely gutted", admitted assistant boss James Stokoe.

Magpies led Gosport Borough 1-0 at Cuthbury thanks to a strike from debutant Antonio Diaz.

But the visitors rallied, equalising late on through Matthew Paterson before snatching a 2-1 victory deep into stoppage time as Ryan Woodford headed home.

Tensions boiled over after the final whistle with Magpies duo Billy Maybury and Connor Doe both shown red cards following protestations on the pitch.

Stokoe told Radio Wimborne: "We feel we’ve done enough to come away with a draw, and if certain things went our way, all three. We’re absolutely gutted.

"They’re a very experienced and well-funded side and they’ve got some very good players. We always knew we were going to be in for a tough game, and that’s exactly what it was.

“We looked really good first half, had a good few chances and really limited Gosport. But, they do have really good players, they are going to have controlling periods throughout the game.

“They did in the second half – they changed formation and, ultimately, they got two chances and took them.

“It became hard for us to come out of our area for any period of time. That’s credit to Gosport, they managed to pin us in and limit us to counter-attacking chances. That’s the quality that they’ve got. It was really difficult in that second half.”

Ex-Cherries youngster Diaz made a flying start to life at Wimborne having joined from Dorchester Town this week. The midfielder put the hosts ahead on 21 minutes, a lead which Danny Holmes's side carried into the break.

Deep into the second half Wimborne retained their slender advantage, but Hampshire outfit Gosport plugged away, equalising with five minutes to go with former Southampton professional Paterson tapping in.

And they were not done there. After Maybury was not awarded a free-kick for an apparent shove, the defender reacted with the retaliation punished, handing Gosport a set piece in the last of four minutes of added time.

The ball came into the box and Woodford stooped to nod past Cameron Plain and give Gosport all three points, which lifts them up to seventh.

“Ultimately, we have to deal with the free-kick – we haven’t done that,” said Stokoe.

“We were 30 seconds away from the final whistle. It is gutting. Ultimately it's cost us a point.

"It should have been a foul for us, but it wasn’t given.”

One positive from the afternoon was the impact of Diaz.

“He was fantastic," said Stokoe.

"He looked really good on the ball. Any new player wants to score early, and he’s come in, 20 minutes into his debut and nicked himself a goal.

"That’s really good from him.”

Wimborne slip to 13th following defeat. They go to mid-table Harrow Borough on Saturday (3pm).

Magpies: Plain, Hester (Penny, 61), Maybury, Davidson, Poole, Diaz, Young, Doe (Pettefer, 67), Lee, Burbidge, Bayston (Kellaway, 87).

Unused Subs: Stokoe, Byrne.