A stamp to the head and a red card for a Kingston player meant the football firsts could expect nothing more than a loss.
Sam McEvoy
A red card and three injuries for Kingston’s firsts contributed to their second defeat in a row, as Brighton University sealed a comfortable 3-1 win away from home.
Charlie Marshall was sent off for violent conduct after a Brighton player stamped on centre back Robbie Flynn’s head, causing the confrontation between the two players which resulted in Marshall receiving a red card.
Flynn said: “He knew what he was doing. He should be banned for three or four games. It was 100 per cent deliberate and if I didn’t have my hand to protect me, he would have caught me in the eye.”
Kingston made mistakes after early, first-half pressure from the visitors caused sloppy passing from the hosts eventually, causing them to concede from a well-taken strike from Brighton forward Chris Pyke.
Red card
Scenes turned ugly on the half hour mark as Marshall was sent off for violent conduct. This heaped pressure on the Kingston back line, with being a man light proving costly.
Not long after, Kingston paid the price with a simple finish from Brighton striker Josh Grimes. A tame pass could only reach the Brighton forward who then finished neatly past Kingston shot-stopper Kieran Sanderson.
Yanik Monrose pulled back a goal for the hosts on the stroke of half time after a challenge inside the box led to a penalty. The converted penalty was Monrose’s first goal of the campaign.
With Kingston down to 10 men and losing 2-1, it seemed like a unlikely task to get any kind of result out of the game.
Second half comeback?
The half-time team talk seemed to rally the home team, however, who dominated the first 25 minutes of the second half as Kingston looked to try and find an equaliser.
The game was then put to rest as another Brighton goal from Pete Tarrant sealed the win for the away side, leaving Kingston down and out.
Coach Andrew Stanford was pleased with how Kingston reacted after half time but conceded that the task proved too difficult in the end.
He said: “I thought the boys came out in the second half, for 25 minutes, looking like we could get an equaliser. We weren’t in the game at all first half, but we got a life line with a penalty so going in 2-1 we weren’t looking hopeful.”