ROYAL Wootton Bassett Town suffered their second humiliating defeat in the space of three weeks as they fell to a 7-1 defeat away to Ardley United.

Having been thumped 8-0 away to local rivals Highworth Town on Monday, December 28, Paul Braithwaite's side had looked to stem the tide with a last-minute 2-1 victory over Brimscombe & Thrupp but that was followed by a 3-2 defeat against Cirencester Town Development in the Bluefin Sports Challenge Cup.

Though on a run which had seen them win four and lose just one of their last nine, the Oxfordshire side still began the day a couple of places below their visitors in the Hellenic League Premier Division table.

The hosts led by just a single goal at half-time, their lead coming courtesy of Reece Bayliss’ well-taken free-kick after quarter of an hour.

However, Bassett’s floodgates were soon to open and it was a counter-attack that delivered Ardley’s second midway through the second period.

After the visitors’ Dale Richards’ left-wing cross failed to beat the front man, at the other end, Nathan Hawkins was outmuscled by Lewis Hayden, who squared to substitute Elias Katsoloudi to tap in.

Four minutes later, an unmarked Ade Talabi headed in from a corner to make Ardley’s lead appear unassailable.

There was a small glimmer of hope for the visitors when Steve Robertson expertly controlled a Jamie Richards cross before steering a shot into the opposite corner from 12 yards.

However, a calamitous fourth spelled doom for Bassett as Jacob Daffern’s corner flew straight in.

Talabi hooked in his second from a corner before robbing Hawkins and squaring to Katsoloudi on the right, who picked out the bottom left corner.

Talabi completed his hat-trick with a header at the right post before the final whistle spared the visitors further embarrassment.