Margate joint boss Mike Sandmann said his players were guilty of throwing away three points in Saturday’s 4-1 home defeat to Bishop’s Stortford.

A bright start at Hartsdown saw George Brown sweep the Gate into a 17th minute lead, only for individual errors to hand the initiative to the visitors.

Two goals in five minutes from Luke Callender, and Ryan Charles gave Stortford a half-time lead, with 43-year-old former Premier League striker Jamie Cureton then netting twice.

Sandmann described the goals his team gave away as ‘terrible’ and says it’s time for the errors to stop.

He said: “Saturday was very frustrating, the goals we conceded were difficult to take.

“We actually started the game really well, playing some good stuff but once we conceded we completely went flat.

“We had a good chance just before half-time and if that goes in who knows? Then, just after half-time we were guilty of a terrible individual error and it was the same for the last two goals, it’s just not good enough.

“We talk about managing the game and being in control and at 1-0 we were, we had it all in our hands we just completely threw it away

“It’s just making poor decisions at poor times and we’re getting punished.”

Gate gave a debut to Dartford loanee Tom Murphy – who created Brown’s goal – but Sandmann admits further reinforcements are unlikely, at least in the short term.

He added: “I’m not going to throw players under the bus but we need to find a solution. We can’t keep conceding goals the way we are.”

Without a win in three games Margate have slipped to 14th in the Bostik Premier.

They travel to Potters Bar on Saturday having been beaten 2-1 at home by the Hertfordshire side in the FA Trophy last month.