Staines Town fell short in their first ever meeting with the merged Havant & Waterlooville FC, a club that will always be remembered for their FA Cup exploits at Anfield two seasons ago.

Steve Cordery selected an unchanged team, although Richard Butler had recovered sufficiently from his ankle injury to take a place on the bench.

The visitors’ team included right-back Jake Newton, Howard’s brother, who left Staines over the summer as he now lives on the south coast.

The pitch was green and flat, and Staines attacked the Penton Hook end in the first half.

The early exchanges went the way of the home side, and Staines might even have taken the lead after just a minute’s play, when ‘keeper Aaron Howe parried out a Scott Taylor drive, and then recovered to palm away H Newton’s rebound.

Staines piled on the pressure, and were rewarded as early as the 7th minute, when a great finish by Elliot Onochie put them in front, following some neat skills in the box by Leroy Griffiths, who then squeezed out his pass just as the defence seemed to have crowded him out.

Staines had chances to extend their lead, while The Hawks mounted just one serious threat in the opening 25 minutes – a diving header from Tiryaki which Louis Wells did well to save.

However, their hard work was cruelly undone by a highly controversial refereeing decision in the 26th minute.

As Simon Jackson swung his boot to clear a dangerous ball some 10 yards from the Staines goal, a forward stooped to try to get his head to it, and the inevitable contact was made. Both players went down injured – Jackson would not in fact return and was sorely missed – but instead of the expected drop-ball, referee John Scott awarded the visitors an indirect free-kick, which was tapped to Muzzy Tiryaki, who slammed the ball into the roof of the net.

After conceding for the first time this season, Staines’ confidence looked to be somewhat dented, and even after Chris Bourne was brought on the restore the side to 11 men, it was now Havant & Waterlooville who were in the ascendancy.

The hard working Wes Fogden loosed a shot which, with the aid of a deflection, seemed goalbound until Wells fingertipped it over the bar, and then, 4 minutes before the break, the visitors scored what proved to be the winning goal. And it was quite a gem, too, with Shaun Wilkinson playing a corner short along the goal line to Manny Williams, who showed an incredible turn in the tightest of spaces to evade his marker, and then found the net from a very narrow angle.

Right on half time, Williams almost created another goal, centring to Tiryaki whose shot was diverted for a corner.

The second half was a little more cagey, with Staines seeming to have steadied their jitters, but Havant still looking the best of the three opponents they have yet faced in the Conference.

A late tackle by Bourne brought the Staines man the only yellow card of the game, but with a quarter of the game remaining, the home side made a double substitution to try to find a way back into the game, Marc Charles-Smith and Darty Brown coming off the bench.

However, the immediate action came at the other end, as a couple of missed tackles allowed Ian Simpemba room for a low shot, that stretched Wells as he touched it round for a corner, and this in turn led to another good save, as he denied Tiryaki in his last effort before being withdrawn.

With 76 minutes played, however, the referee’s attention was drawn by assistant Vince Penfold flagging on the ‘bench’ side, in some pain with a pulled calf muscle.

Despite treatment from physio Gareth Workman, it was clear that he was unable to carry on.

After making enquiries among the crowd, local referee Steve Rance – whose son was watching the game – was summoned to hasten over from officiating at a match between Guildford & Woking Alliance clubs Addlestone and Shepperton FB – and he took over for the remainder of the match, although there had been a 23 minute delay in the meantime.

Staines used the remaining minutes to mount several promising attacks, including a long shot by André Scarlett that was deflected for their eighth corner (as against 5 for the visitors).

More controversy ensued in the 85th minute, when Charles-Smith was held only inches outside the penalty area, yet the defensive wall was allowed to line up just 6 yards back – adjacent to the penalty spot. The outstanding Williams almost gave the visitors an unassailable lead only for Wells to cling on to his 86th minute shot.

In the final minutes, Staines saw shots by Charles-Smith, Risbridger, and a Newton header all blocked or just off target.

The NLP’s man of the match, unsurprisingly, was Manny Williams, while the Massive chose Marien Ifura as Swans’ MoM, the president being made by acting chairman Ken Williams.

Staines: L Wells, Jackson (Bourne 29), Sterling, Gordon ©, Ifura, Scarlett, H Newton, Risbridger, Taylor (Charles-Smith 68), Onochie (D Brown 68), Griffiths; unused Butler, Courtnage.

Havant & W: Howe, J Newton, Gasson, Walker, Pearce, Simpemba ©, Fogden (Nightingale 90+2), Wilkinson, Williams, Tiryaki (Hutchings 74), Woodford; unused Martin, Hinshelwood, Norgate.