Walton and Hersham 3 Margate 2

TEN MAN Margate's hopes of claiming at least a replay in this Carlsberg FA Trophy first round tie at Stompond Lane on Saturday ended in disappointment.

Che Stadhart's brace had twice put them level, only for Walton's Lee Riddell to snatch his second of the game with two minutes left which put the Surrey side through.

There was still time for Chris Kinnear's side to create at least five chances to drag themselves level again, three of them falling to Rocky Baptiste, and the other two to Adrian Clarke.

However, their cause was not helped by the dismissal of midfielder John Keister on the hour for two bookable offences in the space of four minutes. The second decision looked harsh, but the former Sierra Leone midfielder had been involved in a couple of earlier spats, and he got his marching orders for a second time this season.

The second half became a bad tempered affair and Walton substutute Carl Gibbs was lucky not to join Keister after seeming to punch Clarke after the two were involved in a touchline flare-up.

Three wins in a row still elude 'Gate this season, but after successive wins and two cleans sheets against Newport and Welling, they must have been confident of getting through against a team two divisions below them.

Walton, the club where £5m-rated Wigan striker Nathan Ellington started his career and where Millwall chairman Theo Paphitis is on the club's board, made the better start. They put Margate under early pressure and went in front after 19 minutes. A left wing cross by Reggie Savage found Neil Lampton unmarked and his free header looped over Peter Trego and into the net.

Margate's only real chance of the first half brought them an equaliser five minutes from the interval. Pat Gradley's cross picked out Stadhart and his glancing header found the far corner.

Lampton fired a free kick inches over the bar in first half stoppage time, before the scrappy contest really came to life after the break.

Keister's first booking followed a flare-up having received a stern first half lecture, and two minutes later Walton regained the lead. Nothing looked on as Riddell swung his right foot at the ball around the edge of the area, and it flew past Trego who seemed to be unsighted.

Then came the red card, and five minutes later Savage earned a yellow card for a late challenge on Trego. Clarke's free kick was then turned away by Walton's Keeper Nick Gindre, and Ross Smith's header was cleared off the line.

Kinnear then sent on Darren Watson to replace Alexis Charalambous, and the big striker's first touch provided Stadhart with the perfect pass to make it 2-2 with sixteen minutes left.

It seemed a second meeting at Ashford on Wednesday was on the cards, when a long punt downfield fell to for Riddell to score the 88th minute winner, beating Trego with a low drive that got a deflection off unlucky Gate skipper Darren Annon.

Margate: Trego, Charalambous (Watson 73 mins), Benevides, Edwards, Smith, Annon, Keister, Gradley, Stadhart, Baptiste, Clarke. Subs Not Used: Junju, Hussein.