GALLANT Gosport were hit by an amazing triple penalty blast as they went down 3-0 at Bideford in a bizarre quarter-final clash, which was decided by three second-half spot kicks.

Bideford's Mike Southgate scored with all three penalties and Borough's misery was compounded by the 54th-minute dismissal of Mark Tryon, who was red-carded for allegedly stamping on home defender Tom Kelly.

The Devon club took the lead in controversial circumstances in the first minute of the second half. The referee had originally given a free kick outside the penalty area for a handball against Darren Robson.

However, the assistant referee signalled that the offence was on the line or just inside the area and the referee changed his decision to a spot kick, which 'keeper Mark Brown got a hand on but couldn't keep out of the net.

The second spot prize was another dubious decision - the ball spitting up off the pitch and striking Ollie Cherrett on the hand, while the third was given after Cherrett mis-timed his challenge on the pacy Southgate.

Gosport secretary Brian Cosgrave said: "It was a bizarre game. I thought we more than matched them in the first half and silenced a large home crowd, but it went pear-shaped in the second half.

"The first two penalties were questionable, while Mark (Tryon) was trying to step over the Bideford player who moved while he was lying on the ground and he has accidentally stepped on his side - and the ref has said that he stamped on him!

"But it's our players who I feel for, they've played really well and to go out in those circumstances is very disappointing.

"Even after we had been reduced to ten men, they didn't cause us any major problems or open us up. It's not a case of sour grapes, but if Bideford draw Winchester City in the semi-final then Winchester City will beat them," added Cosgrave.