Charles double dumps Gills
Darius Charles struck twice as bottom-club Stevenage claimed a hugely-important 3-1 victory over 10-man Gillingham to give their fight for League One survival a timely boost.
The Gills were forced to play a man light from the 21st minute after Elliott Hewitt's red card for deliberate handball and Boro took full advantage to move within two points of safety.
After a quiet start, the game exploded into life when Hewitt was sent off for handling Francois Zoko's shot on the line.
Zoko stepped up to casually roll in the resulting penalty but Boro should have lost their lead a couple of minutes later only for Cody McDonald to blaze over an open goal.
The hosts then went 2-0 up on the half-hour as Luke Freeman got away down the left and cut the ball back for Charles, whose effort was deflected in.
Gillingham thought they had a route back into the game when McDonald finished calmly only for Charles to grab his second three minutes later following a Freeman free-kick.
Source: PA
