RONNIE Moore famously said of his Rotherham side “if I had a gun I’d shoot them” after watching them humiliated 5-0 by Chesterfield in front of Sky TV cameras in 2011.

Five years later those same sentiments will not have been far from his mind as Eastleigh caved in 4-0 at Barrow in the National League - this time in the full glare of the BT Sport spotlight.

It should have been a close encounter between two sides gearing up for a serious Football League promotion push, but Eastleigh will have to do better than this if they are to be in the mix come the end of the season.

They just about survived a stop-start first-half interrupted by a lengthy injury to goalkeeper Ryan Clarke, whose bravery in making a superb double save left him with a suspected broken nose.

But they were mercilessly torn apart after the break following skipper Ryan Cresswell’s match-turning dismissal.

Although the action replay suggested minimal contact from Cresswell, Eastleigh only had themselves to blame.

The central defender was left criminally exposed to the pace of Bluebirds’ Richie Bennett after the Spitfires had fatally lost possession.

Luke Coulson was caught out and one long ball undid the visitors, resulting in Cresswell bringing his man down.

Having coolly sent the bloody-nosed Clarke the wrong way from the spot, Byron Harrison went on to bag a second-half hat-trick, interspersed by a Nick Anderton strike, as business-like Barrow ran riot against the ten men.

Fuming at the Holker Street horror show, Moore said: “Barrow are big and strong and we couldn’t cope with it. I never thought a team of mine would be beat up the way we were.

“The whole game changed on the penalty decision. To give the goal away like we did….

“We were caught on the halfway line. Coulson’s got to know what he’s doing and who’s around him there.

“He gets block tackled and we’re flat as hell at the back and the lad’s clean through”

Cresswell’s dismissal and a fifth booking for right-back Joe Partington means both stand to miss Friday’s big FA Cup first round visit of Swindon Town (7.55pm) when Eastleigh will again be stars of the small screen, live on BBC2.

Painful as events at Barrow must have been for those watching from the comfort of their armchairs, it will have been twice as hurtful for the 46 diehards who made the 300-mile slog to grey and drizzly Cumbria, setting off in the wee small hours of yesterday morning.

“They leave at three o’clock in the morning and we go and perform like that,” said Moore.

“I was embarrassed and they (the players) should be embarrassed.

“We were brittle and powder-puff today.

“We’ve got loyal fans (who deserve more).

“As long as the players give effort and commitment, I can live with everything else, but we were way, way off it today and I can only apologise to the supporters because that isn’t a Ronnie Moore team and it is isn’t an Eastleigh performance. It was shambolic.

“I can only hope it was a one-off and we get it right again – starting on Friday.”

Eastleigh: Ryan Clarke, Joe Partington, Michael Green, Jason Taylor, Connor Essam, Ryan Cresswell, Luke Coulson, Andy Drury, Jamie Cureton (Scott Wilson, 64), Ryan Bird (Mikael Mandron, 64), Jai Reason (David Pipe, 49). Subs (not used) Jake Howells, Ryan Huddart.

Referee: Karl Evans Attendance: 1,795 (46 from Eastleigh)