VT FC striker Paul Sales suffered derby joy and pain against Gosport Borough last night.

The veteran front-man notched the first-half winner to secure his side’s third consecutive Zamaretto South & West win.

But his evening ended in agony as he suffered a serious knee injury in the last minute at Privett Park.

Sales collapsed to the floor following a challenge from behind by Boro full-back Dean Arnold as he tried to protect the ball near the corner flag.

Until then it had looked like being a thoroughly satisfying night for Dave Diaper’s play-off chasing Boatmen.

Sales struck in the 20th minute, turning home Tyrone Bowers’ fierce cross to ensure that Lee Bright’s penalty miss five minutes earlier didn’t prove costly.

But the gloss was taken off their win, which completed a league double over Alex Pike’s side, by Sales injury.

“I am really pleased with the win,” Diaper said.

“I thought the lads did ever so well. We battled well tonight and deserved the win.

“But the one thing against that is the injury to Sales. It’s a real dampener because he has been a real handful lately.”

For Gosport, the defeat made it five league losses in a row.

“I’m really disappointed,” said Boro boss Pike.

“I’m looking at it overall and we have gone from being third and talking about play-offs to middle of the table by losing five games.

“We have had a breakdown and can’t gather why.”

For a match report, don't miss today's Daily Echo.