Wealdstone endured a dismal and frustrating afternoon as they suffered a 3-0 defeat at home to Eastbourne Borough on Saturday.

Ryan Hall scored a brace for the visitors as Stones finished the game with 10 men, having missed a penalty and played a 16-year-old in goal.

The teenage keeper was short-term Reading loanee Myles Roberts, who replaced Jonathan North, while another youngster, 17-year-old Femi Azeez, was also to make his first appearance off the bench.

The visitors sought to exploit their hosts’ young shot stopper from the outset and he was forced into one fine save, before Stones fashioned their first opportunity when Fumnaya Shomotun hit a tame shot straight at Mark Smith.

But the breakthrough followed immediately after when a poor kick from Roberts left Joel Rollinson free to run down the right and cross for Hall to score with a looping header. The young goalkeeper was struggling with his kicks and it was proving detrimental for Stones.

Within three minutes Eastbourne had a two-goal lead. A goalmouth scramble resulted in the ball hitting the far post and shortly after a cross came into Dean Cox who swept past Roberts on 25 minutes.

The home side’s prospects got even more bleak heading into half-time when midfielder Christian Smith was red-carded following a challenge on halfway.

Stones were in trouble but Danny Green wasn’t too far away from halving the deficit after the restart when he struck the outside of the post from a free-kick.

Substitute Bradley Bubb created an even better opportunity by winning a penalty in the 57th minute, but Green saw his spot-kick saved by Smith before he also dealt with the rebound.

The introduction of talented youngster Azeez and Jeffrey Monakana gave Stones more impetus going forward and both had good chances to score; Azeez couldn’t reach Jerome Okimo’s cross and Monakana forced a terrific save onto the post after a rapid run into the 18-yard box.

Connor Stevens flicked a header over the bar, but Eastbourne were looking for a third goal and it arrived with two minutes remaining when Hall curled his second across Roberts and into the far corner.