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Forest Green 4-1 Lewes

Andrew Mangan's hat-trick eased Forest Green's relegation concerns as they rallied from a goal down to beat already relegated Lewes at the New Lawn.

The Rooks produced an ill-disciplined display as they ended the game with nine men to further compound their miseries.

The visitors started the game brightly and they took a surprise lead after just five minutes when Joe Keehan cracked home a magnificent effort from 25-yards out.

But the face of the game changed when Anthony Barnes was given his marching orders in the 27th minute after bringing down Mangan in the area.

Mangan then made no mistake from the resulting spot-kick as he levelled the scores up at 1-1.

It took just another seven minutes for the home side to make the man advantage count as Lee Ayres latched on to the end of a Conal Platt corner to head the ball in at the near post.

Mangan then added his second and his side's third when he placed the ball into the back of the net from close range.

Things went from bad to worse for Lewes when Simon Cox was sent off for a second booking after 77 minutes.

Mangan then sealed off a convincing victory for his side with four minutes to play when he netted his hat-trick with a strike from inside the six-yard box to make it 4-1.

Forest Green to a big step towards safety as they have now have jumped up to 16th in the Blue Square Premier standings.

Forest Green bookings: none

Lewes bookings: Cox.

Sent Off: Barness (28), Cox (77).

Att: 898

Ref: W Barratt (Halesowen).