Ira Jackson says the thought of missing never crossed his mind before he converted the late penalty which put Margate on the way to a 2-0 home win over Gosport Borough on Saturday.

Jackson, a half-time replacement for Jerson Dos Santos, jumped at the chance to assume responsibility when his fellow substitute Pape Gueye was sent sprawling in the area by visiting keeper Nick Jordan with just two minutes remaining.

Jordan was subsequently sent off and Jackson had to endure a wait of several minutes while sub keeper Lewis Watch took his place between the sticks.

He also had to contend with some 'verbals' from the Gosport players, but the 20-year-old winger, on loan from Dover, shrugged it all off to bury the penalty and then added a second goal in stoppage time to complete the win - the Gate's first in 20 matches.

The penalty was the first goal scored by Margate since Jackson's strike in the New Year's Day defeat at Welling - a drought which spanned 15-and-three-quarter hours - and he said he was delighted to be the one to finally put a smile on the faces of the fans.

Jackson, who had earlier watched team-mate Dean Morgan blast an 11th minute spot kick over the bar, explained: "When the gaffer (manager Steve Watt) said before half-time 'you're going on' I just thought in my head I need to go out and win the game for this team.

"That's why I took the penalty because I thought I've said I want to do that to myself so now I've got to go and show it haven't I? And I thought it (the penalty) might be my only opportunity.

"As soon as we got the penalty I saw myself scoring it so it was only right I picked up the ball and put it on the spot but you should have seen Pape he almost ripped my shirt off trying to get the pen.

"(Opposition) Players try to get into your head and their team were saying things like 'You're going to miss it like your mate did', and that they had a 6foot 5inch keeper coming on.

"But my job is to put the ball in the back of the net, my job is not to appease their banter. I don't really get involved. I just stand there and smile because you've got to have ice cold veins when you're taking penalties.

"You can't have emotion and if I'd have taken on everything they'd said I probably would have changed the way I was going to take the penalty and missed it."

Jackson says he loves playing for Margate - this is his second loan spell at Hartsdown this season - and he still believes they can avoid relegation from Vanarama National League South.

He explained: "I enjoy the club and I enjoy the fans which is why when I scored I went to them straight away because they are the ones who are paying to come and watch us.

"Obviously it's been disappointing for them because they are watching us every week and being disappointed, not in the sense of our performances, but in terms of the results so it was good to give them the win."

Of the fight to stay in the division he added: "The manager has said you are not relegated until there is an 'R' next to your name so you keep going.

"People think we're 11 points adrift or whatever but other teams are losing. It's really important that we keep pushing on. The most important thing is that we are improving every game and I think we are now an exciting proposition."