Hardly Athletic competed well but went down to in form F-Unit by four goals to one at Fenton Manor.
The game didn't pass without then usual refereeing controversy as Matthew Peart was sin binned for a 'slide' but the ref, once again on first name term with the opposition, failed to even award a free kick for a far more obvious slide minutes later.
The game started with Chris Cope giving Athletic the lead but they had keeper Dale to thank for the advantage as he pulled off some outstanding saves early on.
The equaliser was inevitable though and it arrived midway through the first half, a fine finish finding the corner of the goal to level the scores.
Then the controversy as Peart, who stretched for the ball but didn't go to ground, was strangely adjudged to have slid in and was sin binned for two minutes. Straight from the free kick Unit were in front as a couple of neat passes saw the man advantage pay off with a neat finish.
Then there was even more controversy as the ref failed to even award a free kick after a Unit player slid across the floor to dispossess Cope, much to the fury of the Hardly players, who then found themselves three down as the player who had slid in picked himself up and smashed the ball past the keeper.
There was a fourth goal before Peart made his way back onto the pitch and, even though they relied on Dale to keep the score down at times, they competed well in the second half but couldn't get themselves back in the game.