COVENTRY Sphinx slipped to a frustrating 2-1 defeat away at fellow strugglers Grantham Town while Louis Guest saw red after the final whistle for the visitors.
An early brace from Lewis Darlington put Grantham in command before Jordan Hayward kept Sphinx in the contest with a goal in first-half injury time.
However, Guest received a straight red card after the final whistle in an ugly end to proceedings at South Kesteven Sports Stadium.
The result means Sphinx sit 17th in the Northern Premier League Midlands table, one point above the relegation zone.
Grantham broke the deadlock on 16 minutes when Darlington turned home a corner from the left at the back post.
And Darlington grabbed his second of the game three minutes later with a smart finish across Sphinx goalkeeper Charlie Woods into the bottom corner.
However, Sphinx responded in first-half injury time as Hayward won a challenge on the edge of the Grantham box and picked out the bottom corner to halve the deficit.
The visitors felt they should have had a penalty on 81 minutes when Shay Willock beat the Grantham goalkeeper to the ball with his back to goal and beat a defender only to be wiped out before he could fire the ball into an empty net.
Much to Sphinx’s bemusement, the referee showed little interest in the incident with play allowed to continue.
Tempers boiled over at the final whistle with Guest sent off following a long confrontation between the two sets of players.
Coventry are next in action against Wellingborough Town on Tuesday, October 22 with kick-off at 7.45pm at the Sphinx Industrial Supplies Arena.
