WHILE absence is supposed to make the heart grow fonder, familiarity can often breed contempt.

The first league meeting between these two clubs since 1982 was a keenly contested affair, played in cordial spirits.

It finished with the Hampshire adversaries of old sharing the spoils as the Shots celebrated the return of league football to the Recreation Ground following a 16-year exile.

However, if Cherries and their followers were never again to see sight of referee Andy D'Urso, it would be too soon.

The bumbling Billericay-based official has now firmly replaced the infamous Barry Knight as Cherries supporters' public enemy number one.

While Knight was on the up when he lost the plot at Dean Court in 1995, D'Urso is now heading in the opposite direction - and it is not difficult to see why.

Just a month after making a pig's ear of Cherries' 2-0 defeat by Doncaster in February, Billy Smart's Circus arrived in Aldershot and, on the evidence of D'Urso's latest showing, the clowns clearly left town minus their star performer.

Ambivalent throughout, he should have swapped his boots and whistle for a pair of oversized plastic shoes and a chrome hooter.

The last time Cherries crossed paths with D'Urso they ended up having their knuckles rapped by the FA after he reported them for "failing to conduct themselves in an orderly fashion".

Several players had surrounded the official after he had controversially dismissed Shaun Cooper against Doncaster at Dean Court six months ago.

This time around, Kevin Bond's men showed remarkable restraint after D'Urso failed to award them a stonewall penalty five minutes from time.

He was guilty of bringing the game into disbelief after Shots defender Anthony Charles had clearly used his left hand to scoop Brett Pitman's thumping header off the line.

Perhaps D'Urso, who once appeared as an extra in Men Behaving Badly, should consider bringing the curtain down on a chequered refereeing career and pursue his acting interests.

After all, this is the same man who was demoted from the Premiership for failing to dismiss Blackburn's Barry Ferguson despite showing him two yellow cards at Southampton in 2004.

"It was a blatant penalty and only the referee knows why he didn't give it," said Cherries boss Bond, whose team took to the pitch resplendent in their new black away kit.

Pitman added: "I think everybody in the ground saw it. It was a great save but defenders aren't allowed to use their hands."

On a day when Cherries found Shots man of the match Nikki Bull difficult to pass, the inspired goalkeeper was beaten twice in the space of three second-half minutes.

Firstly, Cherries loan signing Reneil Sappleton rifled home an unstoppable equaliser with a venomous half volley that beat Bull all ends up.

Then, after Pitman had risen high above the Shots defence to meet Warren Cummings's corner, Charles intervened to rival Bull in the save-of-the-match stakes.

Bull's contender came after just nine minutes and again Pitman was the man foiled. Unopposed, Pitman met a Jo Kuffour cross with another powerful header, only to see the Shots goalkeeper miraculously turn his effort over the crossbar.

"I know I should have scored," lamented Pitman. "I headed it into the ground and the keeper made a good save but it should have been 1-0."

A rip-roaring opening period continued when Bull threw himself full length to his left to thwart Joel Ward after he had climbed to meet Cummings's 14th-minute corner with a cunning header.

Not to be outdone, the hosts created two chances in quick succession with Shwan Jalal saving John Grant's effort and Kirk Hudson lifting a glorious opportunity over the crossbar.

As an absorbing first half drew to a close, Marvin Morgan's deflected shot clipped the outside of the post before Pitman's glancing header was helped over by Bull.

The Shots were rewarded for their early endeavours in the second half when they took the lead after 63 minutes. Sent clear by Morgan's defence-splitting pass, Louie Soares rolled his shot under the advancing Jalal to send the Rec into raptures.

Sappleton, who replaced the ineffective Sammy Igoe after 67 minutes, enlivened Cherries, although should have hit the target with a hurried snapshot that he dragged wide.

However, the raw teenager, who prefers to be known as Reneil rather than Ricky, certainly made his mark when his net-busting equaliser deservedly put Cherries back on level terms.

"For the first chance, I could see a defender coming towards me and the goalkeeper rushing out so thought I would hit it first time," said the Leicester loanee.

"I kept working hard and hoped something else might drop for me. Luckily, it wasn't too long in coming and I finished it. I was delighted with my first goal."

Ward, drafted in at the 11th hour after Jason Pearce had succumbed to a hamstring injury during the warm-up, went from villain to hero as Cherries had an escape in the closing stages.

Having misjudged a clearance, Ward looked likely to be beaten for pace as Shots substitute Danny Hylton raced towards goal. But despite rounding Jalal, Hylton was denied when Ward recovered to heroically block his shot from a tight angle.