In a game that only really came to life in the second half, Town were once again thwarted by their reputation by a team they had beaten 6-1 at Claremont Road only three weeks previously and who, as Cockfosters did last week, treated the fixture like a cup final.

The game started slowly with both teams sounding the other out and Town appeared somewhat apprehensive to go for the jugular early on. Once again Town were without two leading lights in Aaron Hutchins and Daniel Young and Hutchins in particular has been sorely missed in the heart of the defence with his commanding, and never say die, style of play. Arlesey were making a mockery of their lowly league position by troubling Town and forced a number of free kicks in wide positions which keeper James Noonan did well to confidently field in his six yard area.

Lee Scott then proceeded to miss two good opportunities for Town in the space of five minutes and in identical situations when through on goal with just the home keeper to beat and really should have done better. Scott’s strike partner Dave Dawson also got in on the act when presented with a good chance in a central position only to fluff his lines. The first period then petered out into somewhat of a stalemate with few people in the sparse crowd of 29 realising what excitement would be in store for them in the second half.

Town brought Terry O’Leary and Nicky Rifat into the fray after the break for Chris Zanre and Shaka Cole however they had both barely touched the ball before Arlesey were awarded a penalty kick on 48 minutes for a harsh handball decision in the Town penalty area. Arlesey star man Mark Phillips, who had been a constant thorn in Town’s side, took great delight in slotting the ball confidently home sending Noonan the wrong way.

It was now a test of Town’s character having been in a similar position last week at Cockfosters and to their credit they took the bull by the horns with Scott prominent without really creating any clear cut opportunities as he had done on a regular basis in the first period. That changed on the 58 minute mark however when lively debutante Safraz Pivano gathered the ball on the right and squared it superbly for Scott to skilfully side step a defender as if he wasn’t there and rifle an unstoppable shot into the bottom right corner.

This was the breakthrough Town were desperately looking for and with half an hour of the proceedings still remaining confidence was high that the three points were virtually in the bag. Aaron Serieux replaced the injured Dave Dawson who had taken a battering from some muscular defenders and with the home side appearing to tire, Town were by now very much in the ascendancy. Against the run of play however Arlesey proceeded to hit the crossbar following a melee in the penalty area and Town were lucky to escape unscathed. This seemed to act as a wake up call and for a while Town were camped in the home half of the field without making their presence felt and with the clock worryingly ticking down.

Arlesey had a defender dismissed late on for aiming a kick at Serieux however it was a game played in a good spirit and the Referee might have been more lenient. Time eventually ran out for Town in a game where it was very much two points dropped as opposed to an away point gained and Manager Frank Zanre and Coach Clement Temile could not hide their disappointment as they trooped off the field of play.

Town are not involved in league action on Saturday and instead travel to Enfield based Whitewebbs to play an obligatory Hertfordshire Senior Centenary Trophy 1^st Round tie, kick off is at 1.30 due to Whitewebbs not having floodlighting.

Town Team: Noonan, B McMullen, Malcolm, T McMullen, Kanaris, Cole, Pivano, Looney, Scott, Dawson, Zanre

Subs: O’Leary, Rifat, Serieux, Cox