Ten-man Dolly Blues downed at the death

Stockton Town scored a stoppage time winner to claim all three points from Lancaster City in the NPL Premier Division.

Click here to listen to reaction from Lancaster City manager Jimmy Marshall, talking to Beyond Radio's Ross Chapman:

The Dolly Blues trailed 1-0 at the break after a poor first half, but Nic Evangelinos equalised ten minutes after the restart.

However, Jimmy Marshall’s men received the ultimate sucker punch after conceding in added on time, following Adam Fairclough’s dismissal.

Fairclough and Lewis Mansell had chances in the opening ten minutes to make the early Dollies dominance count, but both attempts were off target and no threat to Stockton goalkeeper Nathan Harker.

Yet, the pendulum swung in Stockton’s favour as they took the lead after 15 minutes via Josh Scott, a minute after Brad Kelly made a great point-blank save to deny Jake Petitjean’s header.

The visitors pushed for a second but Scott and Petitjean’s efforts didn’t trouble Kelly, whilst Evangelinos created the Dollies’ best chance right before half-time, but Harker was able to deal with it.

With a packed Neil Marshall Stand shivering in the cold night, they were sparked into life after Evangelinos levelled the tie on 53 minutes, reacting quickest in Stockton’s box to finish past Harker and score his third goal in four league games.

It was almost a quick-fire brace for the creative magician, as Evangelinos struck just over the bar after receiving the ball from Fairclough, a man in fine form following a brace on Tuesday in the LFA Challenge Trophy.

Minutes later, Fairclough received his marching orders, with the 18-year-old fouling Stockton Town’s Lewis King after mistiming his challenge and, consequently, bringing King down.

Despite the numeral disadvantage, the 10 men of Lancaster placed considerable pressure on their Warrington opposition through a series of corners and innovative passes from the likes of Steven Yawson and Christian Sloan, who repped the captain’s armband.

Stockton were able to absorb Lancaster’s wave of pressure and, with no intention of sharing the points, King’s strike found its way past Kelly, with a flick on by Michael Sweet into the bottom left corner to leave Lancaster City empty-handed come the full-time whistle.

The Dolly Blues will look to put this heart-breaking loss behind them when they welcome Prescot Cables, who sit in 15th, to the Giant Axe on Tuesday evening.

Despite being winless in five league games, the Dolly Blues remain in 4th place and will look to put this heart-breaking loss behind them when they welcome 15th place Prescot Cables to the Giant Axe on Tuesday evening.

Jimmy Marshall’s side will be seeking revenge after the Pesky Bulls knocked them out of the FA Trophy in October following a 2-0 victory.