Moseley’s Kent misery continued with a narrow defeat at Herne Bay.

There was little to choose between the sides throughout, but the turning point was a hotly disputed penalty decision ten minutes into the second half moments after host keeper Jack Delo had pulled off a fine double save at the other end.

The Moles had good reason to feel aggrieved with the ref, but they made things difficult for themselves by conceding an extremely soft goal midway through the first half when Craig Lewington sliced into his own net.

Dan Johnson added a second on 38 minutes, but Dre Grobler halved the deficit moments later.

The Moles were having their best spell of the game when the ref controversially adjudged that Ollie Robinson had caught Sam Hasler in the box, and Danny Walder tucked away the resulting penalty to round off the scoring.

The Herne Bay groundstaff had done a fine job in making the pitch playable despite recent heavy rain, although they might have wished they hadn’t bothered in an opening quarter of the game that was almost entirely devoid of goalmouth action.

Robinson and Grobler had half chances with headers from corners, whilst Mark Lovell planted a header over following a flowing team move for the hosts.

Individual errors allowed Herne Bay to open the scoring, as Robinson had the opportunity to clear for a throw in by the corner flag but took a heavy touch and conceded a cheap corner.

Bay loaded the back post for the corner, and it seemed a waste when Hasler’s set piece was played low to the near post, however, Lewington sliced his clearance beyond Liam Allen to give the hosts the lead.

With Delo unable to take his goal kicks and in visible pain whenever called upon to deal with a backpass, the Moles sensed blood, but he would go on to produce a man of the match performance that played a large part in his side claiming the three points, and he produced a fine save from Staforde Palmer.

The lead was soon doubled, as Bay tore down the Molesey left and presented an opportunity for Johnson at the back post.

Ross Chalke – by far and away Molesey’s best performer on the day – made a magnificent block, but the ball fell kindly for Johnson to stab home the loose ball.

The lead last less than a minute, with Delo producing another fine stop from Reis Stanislaus, but the alert Tom Windsor retrieved the loose ball and crossed for Grobler to power a header beyond Delo to put the Moles back in the game.

Molesey started the second half brightly, and a scramble in the box resulted in Delo saving from Palmer, and he then pulled off an even better save with his foot to stop Windsor’s follow up sneaking in at the near post.

Bay went up the other end, and when Robinson and Hasler competed for a high ball the ref adjudged that Robinson had caught the Bay player, despite neither players nor supporters appealing for a penalty. The Moles felt doubly aggrieved given that a similar situation in the Herne Bay box in the first half was waved away.

Walder sent Allen the wrong way from the spot.

Molesey continued to press, and the unusually subdued James McShane found half a yard of space in the box but fired straight at Delo, and he also kept out Drobler and Palmer.

Quite how the ref decided that Nathan Eastwood’s block with both hands from Palmer’s shot was not worthy of a penalty was a mystery, and Delo again performed wonders to keep out McShane’s follow up.

Molesey’s afternoon was summed up in stoppage time when substitute James Cottee got to the byline and drove across the face of the goal, missing the sliding Rob Sheridan by inches.

Allen produced a breathtaking save in the closing moments to deny Parkinson, instinctively turning his close range header wide.

The defeat means the Moles have picked up just five points from their seven trips into Kent this season, and will hope that a trip to Sussex next week to face Three Bridges will bring them the luck that deserted them this afternoon.