Hastings on the up despite seeing red
The U’s finished the match with only 10 men after on-loan forward Jordan Woodley picked up two yellow cards.
The second booking seemed particularly harsh after a kick out by the Tooting goalkeeper hit Woodley as he turned his back.
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Hide AdThe dismissal made for a tense closing half-an-hour especially when Ashley-Paul Robinson halved the deficit with a twice taken penalty.
The spot-kick was given for a foul by Josh Jirbandey who was lucky to escape not joining Woodley in taking an early bath after having earlier been booked for dissent.
Hastings had looked in complete control after taking a two-goal lead into half time. Lee Carey, who had another impressive game in the heart of midfield, opened the scoring on 13 minutes when his free kick beat the dive of Jack Giddens.
Their second came just before the half hour courtesy of a thumping finish from Zac Attwood after being put clear on goal by a clever chip by Woodley.
Hastings: Anderson, Whitehead, Sutton, Carey, Manning, Jirbandey, Dixon, Thomson (Gonslaves 62), Woodley, Attwood, Barham (Pogue 74). Subs not used: Ray, Stapley.