Hardly were denied an opening day victory when two 'goals' were chalked off, before a last minute penalty was missed.
With a fresh squad, due to the majority being unavailable due to work, holidays and other commitments, Hardly handed debuts to Mike Cartwright, Adam Kemp, Adam Machin and Dan Marsden.
Cartwright donned the gloves and it was newboys Kemp and Machin who combined early on to open the scoring, the former putting in the latter before he found the top corner from an acute angle.
The lead didn't last though as a quick counter attack opened up the Hardly defence and slack tracking back allowed a Horse player the chance to pick his spot past an exposed Cartwright.
Then the controversy began as Hardly saw two 'goals' disallowed in the last few minutes of the first half. Firstly Machin took the ball past two defenders before smashing the ball past the keeper. The ball hit the back frame of the goal and flew back out, the ref shaking his head and refusing to acknowledge the ball had crossed the line, believing it struck the post.
That amazement was multiplied on half time as a low shot, again from Machin, was half stopped by the keeper. The ball squirmed under his finger tips and rolled towards the goal. The keeper threw himself at the ball and ended in the back of the net woth the ball but again, the ref shook his head at the protests and indicated he believed the ball hadn't crossed the line.
The second half started with a second goal for Pack Horse as a lack of conviction at the back from Buxton allowed Horse to sneak the ball away and a square ball was tapped in to give the opponents the lead.
More controversy followed as a sin bin for Machin, for kicking out at a Horse player, following several late, irritating tackles and plenty of mouthing off left Hardly with four men for four minutes and although they kept the score at 2-1 whilst a man down, a third followed with minutes left when a deflected shot rolled invitingly into the path of an oncoming attacker who drilled the ball low and hard into the net.
Hardly would not give up though and Kemp pulled a goal back when he received a Marsden pass and dribbled past his man before firing in from a tight angle.
Plenty of pressure ensued and Hardly were given a chance to draw level with the last kick of the game when the keeper exited the area and a penalty was awarded. Carter stepped up but smashed his spot kick high over the bar, condemning Hardly to a barely deserved defeat.