Catlin signs off with a Winchester City win despite first-minute red card for Robbie Matthews

Having banked just one point from his first two games in temporary charge, the former Gosport Borough No2 desperately wanted to hand the reins back to manager Ian Saunders with a victory under his belt.

That looked extremely unlikely when Matthews got his first-minute marching orders for his ‘last man’ challenge on Adam Mann.

But, against all odds, Winchester picked themselves up and pulled a handsome 4-1 victory out of the bag.

Stuart Green put the ten men ahead on 27 minutes and, although Mann levelled shortly before half-time, numbers were evened up on the hour when Archie Haskayne saw straight red for a stamp on Jamie Barron.

That was the cue for City to step things up and, when Craig Feeney was fouled in the 79th minute, Howard Neighbour struck from the spot.

Andy Jenkinson made it 3-1 with a free-kick ten minutes later and Green completed the job in stoppage time.

“I felt cursed when Robbie was sent off from their first attack, but then we scored and looked alright and you didn’t even notice we were a man short,” said Catlin.

“We gave away a sloppy goal just before half-time but then they had one sent off and, credit to the lads, they went up a gear and won comfortably.

“Robbie’s red card was harsh I thought. They were both chasing the ball, both missed it, Robbie’s gone across him and their lad’s gone down over his leg. The ball was going away from goal. It was a yellow card at worst.”

Matthews’ dismissal wasn’t the only hurdle City had to overcome. They lost tenacious defender Adam Tomasso to a knee ligament injury in the first half, while experienced midfielder Danny Smith was forced off late after being elbowed in the eye.

With left-back Danny King already sidelined with a broken hand, Catlin suspects Army man Saunders will need some new recruits.

“Anything that could go wrong did go wrong apart from the result,” he said. “I’ve got a feeling Ian’s first job will be to get some new players in.”