Jordan Parsons reports as moments of madness see Barking reduced to nine men.
Barking suffered a disappointing 4-3 defeat to Stansted FC and were reduced to nine players in a fiery affair at Mayesbrook Park.
The East London side almost saved a point after goals from Stephen Willis, James Peagram and Matheus Santos had them level with the Airportmen. But two red cards in the second half eventually took its toll on the Blues allowing Stansted to grab all three points with a winning goal in the last minute.
Striker Joel Barnett was the first to go after lashing out at an opponent. Later, tempers flared and Peagram was also dismissed for allegedly spitting at a Stansted player.
Power
It was all so different earlier on. The Blues started the game strongly and Steve Willis opened the scoring in the 16th minute when he rose to power a header into the corner.
A quick response from the visitors saw them equalise minutes later through Sam Ashford who beat Barking’s goal keeper Michael Green with a neat finish.
Stansted then took the lead on 35 minutes, this time Billy Turner rose highest, burying the ball into the middle of the goal with his header.
Things went from bad to worse for the home side in the second half, conceding a third after just 90 seconds. Ashford took on the Barking defence before delivering a dangerous ball into the box for the head of Jack Isherwood.
A comeback looked to be on when Peagram brought the Blues back to within one goal. Stansted failed to deal with Jay Taylor’s deep cross and the home striker took full advantage of their sloppy defending, netting his 27th goal of the season.
Crumble
In the 78th minute, Barking began to crumble as Barnett was handed a straight red card after reacting poorly to a challenge. Willis was also booked for wrestling a player to the ground after losing possession.
The Blues could have had a penalty when Peagram was brought down as he tried to round keeper Reece Paine but substitute Santos was on hand to fire into the empty net from a tight angle to bring the scores level.
Peagram was influential his side’s comeback, but his clumsy challenge from behind on Ashford led to chaos, with both sides clashing as the referee struggled to calm the situation. The striker was eventually dismissed for allegedly spitting at an opposing player.
With a two-man advantage, Ashford and Isherwood combined again in the 90th minute to put the visitors ahead once more, confirming a 4-3 victory.
With one fixture remaining, Barking’s fourth place position is already confirmed. They will end their campaign with a trip to current league leaders Basildon United on the final day.