Elliott Romain was sent off as Maidstone were thrashed at relegation rivals Havant & Waterlooville.

Two goals in either half left the 10 men trailing 4-0 and staring at a humiliating defeat.

Late goals from Jack Paxman and Blair Turgott, a minute apart, gave Maidstone a glimmer of hope.

But Havant made sure of the points with a fifth as Alfie Rutherford completed his hat-trick.

Maidstone were poor enough with 11 men so the last thing they needed was to go down to 10.

They were already behind when Romain was dismissed for an off-the-ball incident in front of the Havant dugout in the 34th minute.

Referee Simeon Lucas went on the advice of his linesman and Romain was on his way.

Havant were comfortably the better side before that and quickly doubled their lead just over a minute later.

Maidstone stuck with their policy of sitting back and inviting the opposition on to them early on.

Havant needed no second invitation to have a go, quickly getting after Harry Wheeler’s side.

They took the lead in the 10th minute after Maidstone got in a mess at the back, missing chances to clear before Jonah Ayunga fed Rutherford whose deflected 20-yard strike flew into the top corner.

Maidstone started to show a little ambition after falling behind, Jack Powell with a chance from Jake Cassidy’s cross.

But Havant remained the bigger threat, Grant Smith with an outstanding save after Ayunga ran through the middle unchallenged.

Havant doubled their lead in the 36th minute, debutant Ayunga turning and firing into the bottom corner.

Alex Bradley blazed over when he should have scored and Smith made another good save at the end of the half when Lewis went through one-on-one.

Maidstone moved Turgott up top for the second half and he was played in by Powell in the early stages.

But he took too long over his shot and Ben Dudzinski made the block.

Havant made the most of the let-off and went three up in the 53rd minute, Bradley with an excellent strike from 25 yards.

Havant created further chances and made it four in the 63rd minute when a cross reached Rutherford who fired low into the corner.

The 10 men pulled a goal back in the 77th minute, Paxman bending the ball into the corner from the edge of the box after a nice run by Aryan Tajbakhsh.

A second followed a minute later when Turgott went through and finished smartly.

But Havant added their fifth in the 83rd minute when Rutherford ran on to a through ball and completed his treble.

Maidstone: Smith, Finney, De Havilland, Swaine (Durojaiye 66mins), McLennan, Powell (Muldoon 66mins), Walton (Tajbakhsh 66mins), Cassidy, Paxman, Turgott, Romain. Subs not used: Strizovic, Phillips.

Attendance: 1,308.