It took just 4 minutes for the Hawks to get their noses infront, a direct ball forward from a set-piece taken by shot-stopper Ben Dudzinski was met by the head of Harvey Bradbury who flicked into the run of Ryan Seager who manged to squeeze past Simon Grant closing the angle finishing the move.

The hosts weren’t going to take going behind lightly and they came forward, looking to create with Jaden Brissett, Liam Ferdinand and Robbie Gallagher all involved in making opportunities but they couldn’t get through the rigid defensive work from the Hawks.

Seager could’ve notched his second of the tie as Maloney knocked a high ball down to Seager who got the strike away but his effort took a vital deflection off James Dickson and went safely behind.

Basingstoke would probe the Hawks with more efforts but it was Shaun North’s side who would come inches away from doubling their advantage as Keane Anderson got the better of Marcus Johnson-Schuster and got a strike away from a tight angle. The ball took a deflection on its way goalwards looping up and over Grant but striking the bar.

Just ahead of the interval, Harvey Bradbury latched onto a loose ball in the Basingstoke area forcing Simon Grant into a good stop to keep the effort out.

HALF TIME: BASINGSTOKE TOWN 0-1 HAVANT AND WATERLOOVILLE

Just minutes into the Second Half, the Hawks were awarded a spot kick as Olly Pendlebury was judged to have been fouled in the area by Basingstoke Town shot stopper Simon Grant. The referee deemed it enough to send Grant off for the foul reducing the hosts to 10 ahead of the Penalty. With no substitute Goalkeeper available to The ‘Stoke, defender Jack Ball was brought on in place of George Reid to put the gloves on for the remainder of the tie.

Harvey Bradbury stepped up and hammered the penalty home past Ball to double the Hawks advantage with plenty of the tie still left to play.

Things would go from bad to worse for Basingstoke as they were reduced to 9 just minutes after the penalty. William Upton was given his marching orders following an off the ball incident, a discussion between the officials deemed it enough for a red card.

Capitalising on the two man advantage, the Hawks dominated the possession in the tie and were making Basingstoke work hard on and off the ball as the hosts set up in a disciplined defensive manner making it difficult for Havant to get near the goal.

Keane Anderson didn’t need a second invitation to grab the Hawks’ third of the tie as Harvey Laidlaw set the ball into his path. From distance, Keane shifted the ball out of his feet and sent a thunderous effort into the top corner past stand-in keeper Ball to make for a more comfortable last 30 minutes for Shaun North’s side.

Pressing and probing further, the Hawks would once again come agonisingly close to extending their lead further. Devante Stanley’s ball in picked out Olly Pendlebury who evades Ball closing the angle but can’t quite get the decisive second touch to finish as Basingstoke recover and clear.

A flurry of opportunities in quick succession presented themselves to the Hawks with substitute Alfy Whittingham to come close first as another ball in from Stanley caused problems, Alfy got the strike away but Ball, making himself big, was able to make the stop.

Brendan Willson would follow this just minutes later as he took aim from range but Ball was equal to it. It would be the Hawks Centre Back who would have another chance to get on the scoresheet just after as a loose ball from a corner was collected by Willson who turned brilliantly away from his man but couldn’t quite bend the effort to a teammate or on target.

As the game ticked on, the Hawks were unable to add more goals to their tally as the Basingstoke defensive work paid off. A frustrating afternoon in contrasting ways for both sides as Basingstoke still feeling hard done by and the Hawks in the perspective of not being able to find the back of the net more.