Caretaker boss Jon Blencowe's unbeaten start came crashing to a halt in Ryman Division 3 on Saturday when his young and largely inexperienced Abingdon Town side were comprehensively beaten.

It all started brightly enough for Town, with John Gardner prominent early on as the home side took the game to their visitors. It was Gardner who had the first chance of the game, but his effort failed to trouble Patching in the Arlesey goal.

Arlesey took the lead in the 14th minute from the penalty spot when Kitson smashed home from the spot following handball from a corner.

It was from another corner from the right that the visitors doubled their lead, the visitors' central defender giving Jason McLaughlin no chance with a powerful close-range header.

But worse was to come. In the 21st minute, Town's defence was opened up again and Tekell put Arlesey 3-0 ahead. With the impressive Dean Harding proving a real handful for the home defenders, it was no surprise that Arlesey scored again in the 24th minute, a clinical finish from Beckett giving him his second of the afternoon.

At this stage it was a battle of character and pride for Abingdon and to be fair they showed plenty.

Despite being 4-0 down, they continued to play neat football without being really penetrative.

The second half was a more even affair, but Arlesey scored the only goal when Tony Fontenelle smashed the ball home in the 63rd minute.