After an indifferent pre-season and a new team for Rovers’ travelling fans to support, there had been some concern that Needham would run riot but Haverhill proved the doubters wrong, particularly in the opening 25 minutes.

However, Billings was less impressed about some of the decisions made by the officials, especially with Needham’s third goal.

He said: “I wasn’t level but Danny Laws (Needham manager) and his team were, and I think the general consensus was the guy was clearly offside and if the other side are saying that it probably tells you something.

“I think the referee generally had a pretty good game, he didn’t have a bad game.

“There were a couple of times he was a bit over-zealous with the bookings and the free kick that led to one of the goals. He probably could have been a bit more lenient considering the weather conditions.

“I think he got the sending off just about right but he missed a couple.

“He didn’t miss one because he saw something with the guy kicking out at Cody (Frazier) because he booked him.

“If he’s seen that then surely it’s a red card offence?”

Talking about his side’s performance, Billings added: “For the first 25 minutes we pretty much controlled the game and going one up was not a surprise.

“It would have been nice to have a couple more but we made chances, which was good.

“I think they probably underestimated us a little bit initially but once they equalised they went up a gear and you could see they were a strong side.”