From the start Stones attacked with a sense of purpose and were rewarded on 7-minutes when McNally met a cross toward the far post and headed a looping ball over the keeper. With the visitors pegged back Stones pressed but were unable to extend the lead until the 25th minute. Smith raced through and the advancing keeper mis-timed his lunge and brought him down, Buckle made no mistake from the spot. Gedling then woke up and swarmed forward at every opportunity, and on the half-hour had pulled one back when indecision from a corner presented a gap in the centre, then six minutes later they equalised with a snapshot through the defence. Just before half time the game was halted when a Stones player was injured in the 6-yard box. Once sorted the referee handed the ball to the visitors and whilst Stones protested the ball was floated across the area and headed in at the far post.
After the interval Stones pressed the visitors but were unable to make in-roads, and just past the hour mark in a 8-minute period conceded 3 more goals. Stones plodded on but were guilty of giving away soft balls and only really troubles Gedling’s keeper once in the half. The final whistle dropped the fire curtain on what initially looked a promising performance but just identified the work ahead for Hunnings and his team to close the gulf ahead.