Phil Parkinson hailed his “heroic” 10-man Altrincham team for finally ending their losing streak, but was left to rue a controversial sending off for in-form striker Regan Linney at The J.Davidson Stadium on Tuesday night.

Alty returned to winning ways after five straight defeats, but their 2-1 victory came at a price after Linney was shown a straight red card in first-half stoppage time following an off-the-ball flashpoint with a Dorking Wanderers defender.

The Robins had led 2-0 after only 11 minutes through Linney and Matty Kosylo, but the 10 men conceded a goal from the penalty spot on the hour and had to withstand constant pressure to secure the win that lifts them to eighth in the National League, just two points off the play-off places.

They hope to build on it with further home games against Woking on Saturday and York City on Tuesday evening, but will be without Linney for the duration of a three-game ban following a red card that was shown after the referee consulted an assistant.

“It looked like it was going to be easy at the start, with us so comfortable and forcing them to make early substitutions, then a refereeing decision completely changes the shape of the game,” said Alty boss Parkinson. “It’s difficult, because I’m talking straight after the game and haven’t seen footage of the incident, but Regan is adamant he didn’t elbow the lad, which is what is being said.

“It’s another decision that has hurt us, but thankfully the lads stuck at it and turned it round to make sure we came away with a well-deserved victory.

“We were under pressure, as you might expect, but it was good to show we can get over the line against a team who pump it into the box and have a superior physical presence.

“I thought the lads were really heroic, the way they stood up to that, and I’d like to thank the fans for again providing such phenomenal support.”