Herne Bay manager Sam Denly accused Whitstable Town of “losing the plot” after the Oystermen had three players sent-off in the final five minutes of Tuesday’s Kent Senior Cup tie at The Belmont.

With Whitstable leading 1-0, Bay were awarded a free-kick 30 yards out and when the ball was delivered into the box, a 20-man brawl developed which ended with Town skipper James Morrish being given a straight red card for violent conduct and Bay’s Jordan Casey receiving a yellow card.

Three minutes later, Whitstable were reduced to nine men when John Guest received a second yellow card and soon after, Steve Hafner was also sent-off for violent conduct.

But, despite now facing only eight players, Bay didn’t have sufficient time to cancel out Craig Thompson’s 52nd-minute strike and a frustrated Denly said: “It has all left an unsavoury taste and Whitstable should be a little ashamed of themselves because they lost the plot.

“But I’m proud of the way my lads reacted. They went in together when there was a bit of a pile-up but none of my players threw any punches and they showed good discipline.”

Denly, however, was unimpressed with his side’s performance in footballing terms as Bay slid to their third defeat in a row having previously gone eight league matches unbeaten.

Tuesday’s defeat followed their 4-2 reverse at Peacehaven & Telscombe on Saturday.

Denly added: “We are having a bit of a blip at the moment but I said to the lads after Tuesday’s game that these things happen and it’s all about how we bounce back.”

Bay are in cup action again this Saturday when they meet Merstham at Winch’s Field in an FA Trophy preliminary round tie.

The Surrey side are a point behind Bay in Ryman League, Division 1 South and Denly will again be without new signing Stuart King. The striker was cup-tied against Whitstable and now starts a three-match ban after being sent-off while playing for Folkestone.

Kane Phillip, Stephen Lloyd and Dan Lawrence are also ruled out by injury, while Joe Kennett is still away. Bay are also in league action on Tuesday night, at Corinthian-Casuals.