If you had offered Aldershot & Farnham a point before 3pm, they would probably have been happy to take it.

But after dominating much of the match and taking a two-goal lead, A&F were disappointed to come away from Woolmer Hill on Saturday with only a draw.

The local clubs were renewing their rivalry after Haslemere's brief spell in the Regional league. A&F just promoted, Haslemere just relegated – the stage was nicely set.

A&F, too, were mindful of the 10-goal thrashing they took the last time the teams met.

But Haslemere have lost some of the young talent that helped them to the Regional and it was Aldershot who started the more brightly, with their midfield four dominating the early exchanges against the home team's five.

It came as no surprise when yet another A&F attack resulted in John Townsend rolling in the opening goal.

Haslemere conceded a number of penalty corners under the continuous pressure and it was from one of these that Mark Ison scored during a goalmouth scramble. Two-nil, and A&F fully deserved their lead.

But it was from this point that all started to go wrong for the visitors. Numerous chances were inexplicably missed and the forwards were perhaps guilty of shooting when a simpler cross and conversion was on offer.

And 2-0 is always a precarious scoreline. The Blues rallied, won a penalty flick in the final minutes of the half and Dan Clarke coolly converted to leave the game finely poised.

The second half was a much more evenly contested affair, with Haslemere enjoying much more possession. This improvement was engineered by veteran coach Toby Mullins who had joined the action.

Aldershot & Farnham were still dangerous, meanwhile, and their more direct approach always threatened the Haslemere goal.

Haslemere's equaliser resulted from pressure down the right and a mis-clearance was snapped up by Henry Alliss who sent goalkeeper Stuart Smith the wrong way.

A&F were still creating the better chances and winning numerous short corners, but their lack of clinical finishing continued to let them down.

"We could still have been out there at midnight and wouldn't have scored another goal," said match manager Malcolm Turner. Even a senior Haslemere player remarked: "Perhaps 8-3 to A&F would have been a fairer reflection of the play."

However, the fact that this scoreline remained was also due to Haslemere's goalkeeper, Dan Hollyman, whose excellent positioning and outstanding saves were of a quality usually reserved for National League.

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Aldershot & Farnham look forward to another local derby on Saturday, this time against Fleet, 1-30 pm pushback at the Army Astro.