Eastbourne Borough turned on the style in the second half as they fired four goals past ten-man St Albans.

Skipper Paul Armstrong struck twice while Scott Ramsay and Nathan Crabb were also on target as Borough took full advantage of James Cracknell's dismissal in first half injury time.

Borough boss Garry Wilson said: "Going down to ten men rocked them a little bit but we were much better in the second half and were comfortable winners in the end."

Borough were still missing injured trio Matt Smart, Ben Austin and Allan Tait but Andy Atkin's recovery from a calf strain allowed them to name the same team which had comfortably beaten Bognor 3-0 in midweek.

St Albans handed a debut to former Chelsea trainee James Fisher at right-back in a new-look defence which also featured Luke Thurlbourne, who is on work experience from Southend.

Atkin should have given Borough the lead with just two minutes on the clock when Neil Jenkins' long ball found its way to him unmarked ten yards out but his shot was too close to goalkeeper Nick Eyre who turned it around the post.

Jenkins was heavily involved in the early stages and had a sight of goal after 13 minutes when Paul Armstrong cleverly picked him out in the area but he shot straight at Eyre.

An early goal would have been a major blow to the confidence of a St Albans side battling against relegation but after such a bright start Borough seemed to go flat.

There was none of the urgency which had seen them score seven goals in their last two games and the crowd grew increasingly restless.

The home side finally showed a glimpse of the form which has taken them near the top of the table just before the half-hour when Matt Crabb, Darren Budd and Pat Harding combined to set up Andy Atkin but his header was off target.

Battle St Albans had posed little threat going forward in the first half as they battled against a strong wind and would have been delighted to go in level at the break until a moment of madness in injury time left them facing an uphill battle for the rest of the game.

The referee was poised to blow the half-time whistle when Marc Pullan went down in a heap and James Quilter was shown a straight red card for using an elbow.

Borough thought they had taken advantage of their extra man four minutes into the second half when Armstrong volleyed home from close range after Atkin had headed Jay Lovett's cross back across goal but an offside flag cut the celebrations short.

It proved a temporary reprieve for the visitors as Borough scored twice in five minutes to take control of the game.

Armstrong broke the deadlock when he bundled the ball home from Ramsay's cut-back and Ramsay made it 2-0 on the hour-mark with an excellent diving header to convert a Matt Crabb cross.

That should have been the signal for the floodgates to open but it took until the 83rd minute for the third goal to arrive.

Atkin whipped in a low cross from the right and substitute Nathan Crabb, who had replaced Ramsay, poked home from close range.

Armstrong put the icing on the cake with two minutes to go when he fired home from the penalty spot after Matt Crabb had been brought down in the area by Dean Cracknell.

Eastbourne Borough: Hook, Baker, Jenkins, Budd, Lovett, Pullan, Harding, Armstrong, Atkin, Ramsay, Matt Crabb. Subs: Nathan Crabb, Kember, Wilde, Douglas, Lightwood.

St Albans: Eyre, Fisher, Cousins, Thurlbourne, Ben Martin, Frater, Hakim, Quilter, Simon Martin, Clarke, Bruce. Subs: Hasim, Sulaiman, Cracknell, James Archer, McKie.