It was probably fitting that Kingstonian should have bid farewell to Kingsmeadow feeling something like gatecrashers to another team’s party.

They have spent the last 15 years largely playing second fiddle to AFC Wimbledon, getting a couple of hundred hardy souls compared to the 4,000 or so who have celebrated their landlords rising through the divisions.

They are poor relations to such an extent that while the Dons will continue to play at the ground they have sold to Chelsea, their request to do likewise apparently received an unequivocal ‘no’.

So there can hardly have been a more appropriate send-off ahead of next season’s decamping to Leatherhead than seeing joyous Havant & Waterlooville fans celebrate on their pitch after the side managed by former Manchester City striker Lee Bradbury secured promotion to Vanarama National South.

But, at least from a Kingstonian perspective, they avoided the match turning into a wake.

Indeed it was difficult to tell the team that had just secured survival from the one that is going up during a 0-0 draw that saw the season finish on a five-match unbeaten run.

On the field at least, it suggests a rosier future under new manager Craig Edwards and may persuade a few more people to board the free coaches being laid on by co-owner Mark Anderson to ‘home’ games in Leatherhead next season.

But with the prospect of having a ground of their own within Kingston looking like a distant hope, they can expect to feel like gatecrashers for a long time off.