A first red card of his career for Sean Edwards took some of the gloss off an excellent display by Burgess Hill who chalked up their first win of the season.

Edwards and an Ashford opponent got their marching orders after a melee in front of the dugouts midway through the second half.

Ashford were then reduced to nine men when one of their players collected a second yellow with seven minutes left and within seconds Leo Day had secured a 2-1 win for Hillians when he headed in Ben Andrews' cross.

The visitors dominated for long spells, going in front through Nicky Sullivan's close-range finish in the 35th minute. But Ashford levelled within a minute through Jody Thorogood's free-kick.

Hillians boss Gary Croydon said: "Sean's sending off was ridiculous. I'm confident we will get him off when we appeal.

"Hopefully this result will kick-start our season. Marc Cable and Ian Chatfield came into the team and made a big difference and we've now got two home games to really get up and running."