Met Police 1-3 Hampton & Richmond Borough
Paul Barry praised his Hampton & Richmond Borough troops' battling qualities after they won at Met Police with just 10 men last night.
Despite having former Brentford midfielder Karle Carder sent off in the 64th minute, two goals from Charlie Moone, plus one from Dave Tarpey, gave the Beavers a comfortable 3-1 win at Imber Court.
Moone opened the scoring on 18 minutes with a tap-in after Tarpey's free kick came back off the post, but the Met got the equaliser in the third minute of 11 added on at the end of the first half following a first minute injury to one of the linesmen.
After Carder's sending off, the Beavers looked like a point would be enough for them, but a 75th minute strike from Tarpey found it's way inside the far post to put them back in front, and only seconds remained when Moone broke through and buried his shot into the opposite corner to seal the points.
Barry said: "The result was better than I expected, although we didn't play particularly well, and I thought we were second best until Karle was sent off, which seemed to kick us into life, and we responded superbly.
"It was a harsh sending off, with neither booking really deserved. But Rodney (Chiweshe) didn't have a save to make after that, and we were clinical at the other end too.
"It was a strange game, losing the lino early on and having to play with just one for half an hour while a replacement was found. We got a slice of luck from it, as Charlie (Moone) was in an offside position when he was fouled for the free kick for our opener, and it probably wouldn't have been given if a linesman was there - but it's about time we had some luck!"
The win moved Hampton up to ninth in the Ryman Premier, but still 12 points off a play off place, ahead of Saturday's game against Hendon at Harrow Borough.
Carder, meanwhile, is expected to miss the home game against Enfield Town on Tuesday week.
