Danny Knowles was sent off as Eastbourne Borough crashed 4-0 at Kettering today to remain in danger at the bottom of Blue Square premier.
Knowles was shown a straight red card when he brought down Jean-Paul Marna in the area in the 37th minute and also had to be stretchered off.
Goalkeeping coach Dean Lightwood, who was only on the bench as Neil Jenkins injured himself in the warm up, took over in goal and his first job was to pick the ball out of the net as Marna scored from the spot.
Kettering were awarded another penalty on the stroke of half time when Ben Austin handled a through ball from Marna who converted his second from the spot.
Borough went to three at the back in the second half as they threw caution to the wind but left themselves wide open as Kettering scored two more.
James Dance set up Marcus Kelly to score from close range in the 59th minute and James Jennings made it four with 16 minutes to go when he fired a shot under Lightwood.
Ebbsfleet's victory over Gateshead mean Borough remain above the bottom three with just the home game against Oxford remaining but could slip into the drop zone on Tuesday night if Gateshead avoid defeat against Stevenage.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here