Gosport looked bright from the start and after just six minutes began to show some attacking threat. Billie Busari was played down the wing by Harry Kavanagh but after beating his man, his dangerous cross into the middle was cleared and Mason Walsh saw a shot blocked on the follow-up.

Three minutes later, Boro opened the scoring through Dan Wooden. A brilliant delivery from a free-kick on the left by Rory Williams was turned in by Wooden from close range to give Gosport the lead.

The game settled down after the opening goal with a lack of any real action for 10 minutes until Gosport were left wondering how they didn’t get a second in the 22nd minute. Wooden forced Patrick O’Flaherty into a fantastic save to deny his header and the ball was cleared off the line as Billie Busari tried to bundle it home.

Harvey Rew then also had an effort cleared off the line in the 25th minute. Mason Walsh made himself some space down the left with his pace and skill and his cut back found Rew whose shot looked to be creeping in at the far post until it was hooked away.

But, Gosport did find their second of the afternoon just after the half hour through Harry Kavanagh. A shot was deflected to the feet of Wooden who couldn’t get the ball under control but luckily Kavanagh was steaming in to smash the ball home.

A dominant first half display almost saw a third when another Wooden header was bouncing across goal and just wide but the on-rushing Rew was just a split second too late as the ball evaded him and went just wide.

Gosport started the second half how they played throughout the first and got their third goal of the game in the 49th minute. Mason Walsh took advantage of a Salisbury defender going down injured and raced forward to cut back to Wooden for an easy finish and his second goal.

A flurry of chances occurred in the 62nd minute as Busari had two chances to add a fourth. Firstly, cutting in from the right wing, his left-footed shot forced O’Flaherty into a good diving save. Almost immediately Busari found himself one-on-one with the hosts’ ‘keeper but again failed to find the back of the net.

From the resulting corner, the ball fell to Matt Briggs who turned almost the entire Salisbury defence, turned them again and again for good measure, before his shot was deflected over the bar.

Salisbury barely threatened the Gosport half, let alone their goal but in the 72nd minute thought they had one back after a rare counter-attack until the assistant referee’s flag was raised to deny them.

And things got even worse for Salisbury just a minute later when Chikanele Elechi received his second yellow card and was sent for an early bath.

But, their miserable afternoon wasn’t done yet. Elliot Wheeler had a shot on goal that looked to be turned in by new signing AJ Harris-Sealy on the line as Gosport managed to get their fourth , regardless of who will claim the goal!

In the 88th minute it was high fives all round as Boro found their fifth goal. Busari raced forward down the left and cut the ball back to Matt Paterson who was on hand to convert.