BASINGSTOKE Town's slim hopes of staying in National League South were ended as they lost 3-2 at Gosport Borough.

As expected Town boss Terry Brown made a few changes for the side which drew 2-2 with Weston-super-Mare.

Aaron Howe, Shaun McAuley and Rob Rice replaced Dan Lincoln, Glen Southam and Simon Dunn.

The first chance of the game fell to the Dragons as the lively Louie Soares fired just wide.

The home side took the lead after 20 minutes, as Rory Williams' long range effort hit the crossbar and fell to Dan Wooden who netted the rebound.

Town goalkeeper Aaron Howe was called into action to deny Sam Pearce and then Dragons' centre half Jack Deaman slides a clearance from Williams' cross and Howe did well to tip the ball over.

The visitors went looking for an equaliser with Tom Bird coming the closest, but it stayed 1-0 at the break.

After the interval, the sides traded chances as Justin Bennet shot wide and then Soares saw his effort tipped wide.

The home side then doubled their advantage, as Bennett finished off a lovely move, which involved Adam Wilde and TJ Cuthbertson.

The Dragons roared back as striker Liam Enver-Marum was found in the area and fired home after 55 minutes.

The visitors knew only a victory would save them from the drop and they certainly had the better chances.

However, their hopes were to end in the 73th minute, as Wilde made the most of an excellent cross from Williams to make it 3-1.

Once again the Dragons roared back as sub Manny Williams pulled a goal and they continued to look for more goals, but Gosport held out to win 3-2.

Town have three games left in their National League South campaign, starting with a tough trip to play-off hopefuls Dartford on Saturday.