IT took Aldershot 68 minutes to wear down the stubborn resistance of basement side Hampton & Richmond Borough at the Recreation Ground on Saturday.

Predictably, that elusive first goal was followed by several more, with Hampton forced to abandon the blanket defence and delaying tactics that had frustrated Aldershot, along with a referee who saw things rather differently inside the penalty area.

"I told the boys at half-time to be patient and keep their self-belief," said manager Terry Brown. "It was getting the first goal that worried me because sometimes it can be ridiculously difficult, even when you are the far superior side"

The manager tended to blame the referee and some "farcial decisions." His claim that Aldershot should have had three penalties was probably overdoing it, but it was difficult to fathom why John Farries declined to point to the spot early in the second half after a leg-entwining tackle by Chris Rose on Lee Holsgrove.

Hampton's tactics were simple. Get plenty of men behind the ball and knock long balls towards the towering Wayne Cort, brother of Carl.

And they posed Aldershot a few problems in the first half when they had the strong wind behind them.

In fact, the visitors could have taken a shock lead after 16 minutes when a Scott Bennetts corner fell to an unmarked James Clarke who shot wide from very close range.

Aldershot, who lost skipper Jason Cousins to injury after 25 minutes, struggled to find a rhythm and made life difficult for themselves by failing to keep the ball on the deck in the gusty conditions.

When they finally heeded Brown's bellowed orders to play the ball to feet, the gulf in class began to show.

Midfielder Bennetts, who covered plenty of ground for Hampton, made a vital interception when Lee Charles looked certain to score, and goalkeeper Andy Iga used his legs to keep out an angled drive from Roscoe D'Sane.

Just before half-time, D'Sane left defenders for dead as he peeled away on to Dominic Sterling's through-pass, but slotted the ball past the far post as Iga rushed off his line.

Aldershot were again almost caught by a sucker-punch after half-time, with Sean Gorman, on loan from Basingstoke, wasting a very decent chance.

Thereafter, the home side were far more incisive in their play and created chance after chance. A Jason Chewins free-kick was cleanly won by Holsgrove whose far-post header was cleared off the line by Alan Inns.

An aggrieved Holsgrove was denied a penalty soon after and then a fierce 20-yard shot from Nick Roddis brought a good diving save from Iga.

And when Lee Charles had a sweetly-struck shot hooked off the line by Rose, it seemed that Aldershot would need something special to break the deadlock.

But with 22 minutes left, the luck that had been favouring Hampton swung dramatically the other way.

Lee Charles set up D'Sane whose shot would probably have been covered by Iga but for a big deflection that sent the ball looping over the stranded 'keeper to nestle gently into the top of the net.

The goal changed everything and, four minutes later, Roddis was the architect of a scything move that cut Hampton's defence to pieces.

Having started it with a neat ball to Paul Buckle on the right, Roddis sprinted through for the return pass and whipped a cross over for defender Anthony Charles to force home at the far post like a born striker.

Forced to settle for damage-limitation, Hampton conceded a third on 81 minutes when Iga failed to hold substitute Steve Perkins' free-kick and Lee Charles scrambled the ball in for a deserved goal.

In the 90th minute, and to ironical cheers from the 2,012 crowd, D'Sane was bundled over by Sam Okafor for an unarguable penalty and it was D'Sane who drilled it home for his 12th league goal of the season.

Aldershot: Howells, Hooper, Chewins, Cousins (A Charles 25), Warburton, Sterling, Roddis, Holsgrove (Perkins 73), L Charles, D'Sane, Buckle (Hammond 77 mins). Subs (not used): Harper, Bull. Booked: Sterling.

Hampton: Iga, Harte, Deegan (Cyrus 89 mins), Okafor, Inns, Rose, Bennetts, Gorman, Cort (Riddell 75), Gardner (Read 45), Clarke. Subs (not used) Jolly, O'Connor.

Referee: J Farries.

Attendance: 2,012.