Farnham Town crashed out of the FA Cup in an ill-disciplined 3-2 defeat against Spelthorne Sports in their Preliminary Round tie on Saturday.

Town would still be in the hat for the next round of the FA Cup had they taken their chances, kept their composure and held their nerve after referee Callum Peters had reduced them to nine men.

This was a strange game, decided by a series of unusual decisions from all sides.

Before kick-off, Farnham fans were surprised to see strikers Ashley Ellson and Nat Williams starting on the bench, but the Town team on the pitch appeared unaffected by the changes and dominated a nervous Spelthorne Sports for the first 15 minutes of the match.

Farnham should have taken the lead when Matt Glass split the Spelthorne defence with a perfect pass to put Josh Ogunseye through one-on-one with the goalkeeper, but the striker’s shot came back of the inside of the post and the Spelly fans breathed a sigh of relief.

Then, just as it seemed certain Town’s dominance would see them ahead, a lapse of defensive concentration allowed Spelthorne to sneak the opener against the run of play.

For the rest of the half, Farnham took the game to the opposition, almost equalising when a Cavan Atkinson header hit the post and, despite being behind, the fans were optimistic at the break, believing one goal would see Town push on to score more.

They were right, but couldn’t have been more wrong.

The second half had barely kicked off when, unmarked in the six-yard box, Ogunseye glanced his header wide.

Then it all kicked off on the halfway line, when a reckless challenge from Jack Mitchell led to an ugly fracas with both sides facing up to each other.

When the referee finally regained control, he issued cards aplenty – red for Mitchell, another red for Nhoj Witter, who had raised his arms in the melee, and a third red for the Spelthorne player who retaliated.

Despite being down to nine men, Farnham raised their game again and were finally rewarded on the hour, when the ever-industrious Ogunseye swooped in to beat the Spelthorne keeper at his near post.

To underline the chaotic nature of the match, it was full-back Max Meaton who popped up in the six-yard box to slot home Town’s second.

Initially ruled out by the assistant’s flag, the goal was given by the referee and Farnham finally led with 20 minutes left.

It was a lead that lasted less than five minutes.

A man up, Spelthorne pressure first found an equaliser, and then the winner with just five minutes of normal time remaining.

Even then, there was time for Town to create a couple of half chances from dead-ball situations and collect another couple of bookings for cynical challenges that stopped threatening Spelly breaks, but the match was lost when it was there for the taking.

Farnham manager Colin Millard felt the referee ruined the game. He said: “Football can be a brutal game at times and today was one of those occasions for us.

“The sendings-off spoilt the game to a degree and I’m convinced Jack’s was wrong.

“Yes, it was a foul and a yellow card, but it wasn’t dangerous – he wasn’t out of control and it certainly wasn’t high.

“Their lad was just a bit quicker than Jack and he was slightly late.

“But it was their reaction that got him and two others sent off, including one of their own.

“I honestly don’t believe there would have been any reds had it not been for their reaction.”

With two games in three days at the weekend, Farnham will be weakened by suspensions and will need to find strength in depth.