Hitchin Town 4 Redditch United 2

DEBUTANT Jhai Dhillon netted a screamer and a lucky strike but disjointed Redditch were comfortably beaten by 10-man Hitchin.

Left-back Dhillon, signed from league rivals Dunstable Town hours before kick-off, lobbed keeper Michael Johnson from the corner of the box and then charged down a clearance which looped into the net.

But in truth, Hitchin were worthy winners having threatened to run riot in the opening 25 minutes before producing a composed display in the second half following Brett Donnelly’s 44th-minute dismissal.

Reds boss Darren Byfield made four changes to his starting XI with Dhillon drafted in alongside Danico Johnson, Reece Hales and Jordan Brown. Duane Courtney and Gurjit Singh were unavailable, while Ahmed Ali and Nat Kelly dropped to the bench.

United were out of sorts from the off and behind within four minutes when a recycled corner was lofted to the far post by Mason Spence for captain Dan Webb to crash home.

Hitchin continued to dominate and the deficit was doubled before the 10-minute mark when Kane Smith’s ball found Matt Lench to power home despite the presence of Jordan Jones and keeper Brad Catlow at the far post.

Shell-shocked Reds gifted their opponents licence to attack at will with left-back Ben Walster and Josh Bickerstaff forcing smart stops in the rain from Catlow.

But out of nowhere, United scored with their first attack when Loveridge combined with Luke Keen to feed Dhillon who lofted into the top far corner having picked up the ball in the left channel.

Redditch finally found some fight with Danico Johnson having the ball smothered at his feet before Simeon Cobourne hit the side-netting.

The away side’s hopes of a recovery were boosted when Donnelly picked up his second booking for a collision with Reds skipper Jordan Cullinane-Liburd.

However, the switch to a back three at half-time did Redditch no favours and the 10 men started the second half on the front foot before re-establishing their two-goal cushion in controversial circumstances.

Home skipper Webb hit the deck under minimal contact while contesting a high ball with Cullinane-Liburd and referee Paul Forrester pointed straight to the spot. Walster slammed the spot-kick low to Catlow’s left.

Reds kept plugging away and hit back on 65 minutes when Dhillon charged down Spence's attempt to hack away with the ball looping over Michael Jonhson and into the net.

But the joy was short lived as Hitchin sealed the points with the move of the match. Spence waltzed into the box at the end of some incisive passing and guided across to Lewis Rolfe to finish under the advancing Catlow.

Chances were few and far between from there and a miserable night for United was summed up when coach Reuben Hazell was sent from the dugout for venting his frustration with six minutes to play.

Reds: Catlow 5, Jones 4, Dhillon 5, Loveridge 6, Brown 5, Cullinane-Liburd 5, Johnson 5, Hales 5 (Ali 74), KEEN 6*, Angus 5, Cobourne 4 (Kelly, 80). Unused sub: Byfield.