Louis punishes nine-man Town

With Margate’s game at Kingstonian one of six games in the division that fell victim to the weather, Hawks knew that a win would take them to the top. They had been in the same situation on Boxing Day but were held to a draw.

This time they made no mistake. Charlie Walker gave them a 12th-minute lead at East Brighton Park and Enfield suffered a double blow just before the half-hour when David Kendall was sent off for pulling back debutant Hakeem Araba, just signed from East Thurrock, and Paul Armstrong converted the penalty.

Enfield then held out until Craig McKay was sent off in the second half. Louis opened his account on 72 minutes and added two more in the closing stages, with Armstrong scoring his second in between them.

There was a sensational start to Harrow’s home game against Cray. It was only the second minute when Harrow keeper Elvijs Putnins launched a long clearance and watched it bounce over opposite number Andy Walker to put his side ahead.

Saheed Sankoh doubled the lead three minutes before half-time but Cray looked a different side after the break and a Paul Vines double levelled the scores by the 62nd minute. Danny Phillips netted from close range to put Cray in front with 15 minutes left, only for Simeon Akinola to make it 3-3 five minutes later.

Thurrock moved out of the relegation zone by completing a double over Lewes with a 2-1 victory in Sussex. Callum Donaghey, a new arrival from Three Bridges, headed a debut goal to put the home side ahead shortly before the interval but Danny Green equalised two minutes after the restart and Jon Dollery turned Stuart Thurgood’s cross into his own net for the 68th-minute winner.

Wingate replaced Thurrock in the bottom two after their 2-2 home draw with Hastings. Despite being reduced to ten men by David Laird’s dismissal, Wingate opened the scoring soon after half-time through Dan Brown.

Hastings, a week away from their FA Cup trip to Middlesbrough, drew level in the 76th minute when Danny Ellis curled in a shot and went in front nine minutes later with a header from Bailo Camara.

Then Josh Jirbaney was sent off to level the numbers and Wingate salvaged a point in added time when Scott Shulton’s corner found its way into the net.