George Elokobi said Raphe Brown’s red card was a case of mistaken identity after late drama in Maidstone’s derby draw at Tonbridge.

Brown is set to miss the Stones’ FA Cup third-round tie against Stevenage on January 6 after picking up a second yellow card at Longmead on Boxing Day.

He’d been substituted in the closing stages to protect him from the threat of a second caution.

But he was picked out following a skirmish in front of the away dugout after Jordan Higgs’ 94th-minute leveller for Tonbridge in a 1-1 draw.

Brown, however, was an innocent bystander, with Timmy Abraham the guilty party.

Abraham tried to take responsibility but Brown was dismissed by referee Nick Dunn.

“They came and celebrated in front of our dugout which I thought was a little bit over the top,” said Stones boss Elokobi.

“We don’t do that as a football club. If that’s how they do it here, fair enough, it’s a local derby.

“I turned round and saw the wrong player got booked in Raphe Brown.

“Timmy has owned up and said he was the one that was in there.

“Raphe got booked, which is a second yellow card and ended up being a red card, which is mistaken identity.”

Elokobi was also booked despite trying to act as a peacemaker.

He was set to discuss the situation with the officials.

It was his first game back in the dugout following a touchline ban.

Elokobi said: “I’m not going to say any more until I speak to the officials in terms of I don’t know why I got booked, when I stayed completely away from it.

“If I’ve done wrong, I don’t understand. That’s all I’m saying. But I need to speak to them. I need to understand.”

Elokobi praised a good away performance as Maidstone halted their mini-slump.

The Stones travelled to Longmead after three successive defeats in all competitions.

Matt Rush’s 57th-minute strike put them in front and while Higgs’ injury-time cracker denied them victory, boss Elokobi took the positives.

He said: “I’ve got to talk about the performance of my team.

“I thought it was a good away performance, in terms of how we set up, building the play and being patient, and then creating and trying to get that finish.

“It was a fantastic cross from Harry Kyprianou and Matt Rush, he’s stepped up and he’s coming up with the goals.

“I think we grew in confidence from the start of the game. We had to execute our game plan and we did that.

“The players did that excellently to come away at half-time 0-0.

“We knew in the second half we’d get more opportunities and we tweaked one or two things in the changing room tactically at half-time.

“We spoke about it but we wanted to keep that clean sheet as a team because you build from a clean sheet.

“We did say if we don’t win it, we don’t lose it.

“We needed to end the losing streak here and that’s what we’ve done.

“I thought we played some good stuff and then we got in the final third and it was good for Rushy to get that goal.

“Then it was about trying to consolidate the lead and make sure we don’t concede but it wasn’t to be. It’s a great strike.

“We’ve been on a three-game losing streak so every point counts at this stage of the season, going towards the new year.

“It was good to stop the rot. We’ve done that as a football club and it’s a point towards the right direction.”

Maidstone are fifth in National South, with Tonbridge ninth.