DAVE Diaper admitted Sholing were “desperate for a goalscorer” as Wimborne duo James Stokoe and Mark Gamble sent the Boatmen crashing to their 13th Southern One South & West defeat of the season at the Silverlake Arena.

With Premier Division outfit Hungerford confirming the signing of 20-year-old former Eastleigh frontman Sam Wilson, Sholing handed a start to his namesake, reserve team graduate Coby Wilson, as they sought to make amends for August’s 3-0 Cuthbury reverse.

But, with skipper Byron Mason pulling out with a groin strain and defender Pete Castle needing a rest to aid his return from long-term injury, the 17th-placed Boatmen simply lacked the experience to cope with their mid-table visitors who returned to Dorset as 3-1 winners.

It was threadbare Sholing’s fifth game in 15 days and Diaper admitted: “It caught up with us a bit with all the players we’ve got out. We were very poor and deserved what we got.

“I wasn’t overly impressed with Wimborne , to be perfectly frank, but we had too many players missing and today was a step too far for us.

“There were only half a dozen in the squad who were what you’d call recognised Sholing players and Wattsy (Nick Watts) wasn’t 100 per cent fit.

“I’m a manager who demands a lot from the players but, at the same time, it’s not easy when you’ve got young lads trying to learn the game.

“Under the circumstances we did well to get a team out and compete.”

Stokoe tapped home Wimborne’s tenth-minute opener, reacting quickest when Jamie Davidson’s strike from a corner was blocked on the line. It stayed that way until the 57th-minute when the Magpies’ No5 struck again, this time rolling the ball past goalkeeper Lee Webber to round off an intricate passing move.

Webber then did well to claw away Gamble’s effort, but Wimborne’s leading marksman – exactly the sort of player Sholing could do with – made instant amends when he fired his side 3-0 up via the crossbar.

The Boatmen responded with a quality Barry Mason header from Kev Brewster’s corner, but they were well beaten.

“At 3-0 down we were still fighting and you can’t knock our desire,” said Diaper.

“To be fair, the senior players have done well trying to help the ones without experience to come through. “But we’re desperate for a goalscorer and that’s the thing we’ve got to work on.

“We miss a player like Lee Wort (now of Gosport Borough in the Conference South) who was banging in 40 goals a season.

“The problem is there are not many goalscorers around and this is the wrong time to go for them. It should have been done in pre-season.”