Three red cards, two goals and one dodgy ref at Torquay United

Torquay United shared the spoils with Maidstone United in an incident-packed fixture at Plainmoor, sadly ruined by some poor refereeing decisions.

The Gulls fell behind to a gorgeous free-kick from Riley Court but quickly levelled through Dylan Morgan, and were seemingly in the box seat when David Sesay was dismissed after a scuffle five minutes before half-time.

The second half was a ding dong, United throwing the ball into a penalty area well marshalled by the Stones, who had chances to pinch all three points before it descended into chaos, with referee Will Briers first dismissing Louis Dennis and then Jordan Young in a bizarre few minutes at the end.

United started the game brightly and created the first chance against their bogey side from recent seasons, Sonny Blu Lo-Everton firing over from a Jordan Thomas cross.

Momentum continued to flow in favour of the Gulls until The Stones won a free-kick 22 yards from goal and Court picked out the top corner with a super strike.

It was harsh on United and they took a while to regather their composure, eventually pushing back the visitors with a spell of pressure toward the end of the half, culminating in a game of pinball in the box, Morgan seizing on the moment to steer a lovely side-footed equaliser into the far corner.

There was more drama before the break, Sam Dreyer involved in a game of push and shove that resulted in a number of players joining the melee near the corner flag, and when the dust settled, Sesay was red-carded for violent conduct.

United controlled the early exchanges of the second period, substitute Cody Cooke almost poking his side into the lead. Young then had a lovely curling effort tipped over by goalkeeper Nathan Harness.

Maidstone, despite their numerical disadvantage, were also a threat, forcing James Hamon into a decent save with his feet and heading over from a good position, and then it all kicked off!

Melee part two saw the usually mild-mannered Dennis at the centre of attention and he was given his marching order by Briers, who promptly completed his red card hat-trick by showing a second yellow to Young for dissent.

In truth, Briers struggled to keep control of proceedings as the game drew to a close, and United survived one final scare when the visitors headed over in the dying seconds.