Paul Wotton says Torquay United’s 4-2 loss at relegation-threatened Eastbourne Borough was a “defensive horror show”.
The Gulls remain second in National League South but are now six points off leaders Dorking Wanderers after a third successive winless game.
Torquay are a point ahead of third-placed Hornchurch, but the London side have a game in hand over Wotton’s men.
George Alexander gave Eastbourne a fifth-minute lead before Sonny Blu Lo-Everton levelled nine minutes later as the sides went into half-time tied at 1-1.
Alexander made it 2-1 to the hosts, who were bottom of the table before the game, in the 61st minute before Arthur Grout added a third nine minutes later.
A Jamie Searle own goal with nine minutes left gave Torquay hope but Matt Burgess made it 4-2 deep into stoppage time.
“The first five minutes, we were really poor,” Wotton told BBC Radio Devon.
“The rest of the first half I thought we were excellent and should have gone in more than 1-1 and then second half we spoke about being defensively focused – and it’s a defensive horror show really.
“When they scored their second goal, I didn’t like the way we reacted to it and individual errors have cost us today.
“The biggest disappointment for me is I felt second half Eastbourne, I hate the terminology, but they got to the ball quicker than us, they pressed better than us, they won more headers than us, more duels than us, so that’s bitterly, bitterly disappointing.
“It’s really important [to remember] the squad that we’ve got at the minute got us to the top of the league, and have played some fantastic football and have put in some fantastic performances, today the second half wasn’t that.”
