Sutton United's fight for Blue Square South survival gathered pace on Saturday with a last-gasp 2-1 triumph at fellow strugglers St Albans City.

The thrilling win - secured by a 93rd-minute goal from skipper John Scarborough - followed the New Year's Day success over promotion-chasing Hampton & Richmond, giving Ernie Howe's men their first back-to-back wins of the campaign.

It also lifted Sutton off the bottom of the league table for the first time since Howe took over in October.

"We didn't play our best on Saturday but got the win and that was always going to be the most important thing," Howe said.

"Everyone worked so hard and deserved their reward."

Both sides were reduced to 10 men after a 71st-minute altercation led to Sutton's Nicky Greene and City's Paul Bruce being red-carded.

Jon Stevenson put the home side in front with 13 minutes to play, but then came the incident that swung the game the visitors' way.

Bashiru Alimi was fouled by Jomo Faal-Thomas in the penalty area, and was shown a second yellow card.

Craig Dundas converted from the spot to level the score, and the final minutes saw United camped in the home side's half.

They eventually got their reward when young substitute Harry Ottaway did brilliantly on the right before crossing for Scarborough to score from close range, sparking wild celebrations from visiting fans.

A delighted Howe said: "We have been given a few refereeing decisions in recent games, which makes a nice change.

"It is swings and roundabouts. Hopefully, we have had all the bad decisions for this season.

"We have had a lot of sendings-off, which we need to stop.

"Nicky's was just handbags stuff. He was probably a bit frustrated having been left out of the previous game.

"It's a shame because he will miss three games.

"The fans were excellent. There was a great atmosphere at the final whistle and a buzz in the changing room."

Sutton host Bath City on Saturday without midfielder Paul Honey, who is injured.