JON Gardner’s late penalty was in vain as Ardley United paid for conceding two quick goals in a 2-1 defeat at Milton United in the Uhlsport Hellenic League Premier Division.

Kevin Brock’s side went into Tuesday night’s game on the back of their first league win of the campaign, a 1-0 success at Bracknell on Saturday.

They began brightly, with Luke Ingram firing over and Troy Bryan rattling the crossbar with a header inside the opening five minutes.

Defensive errors then contributed to Milton taking control of the game with two goals in three minutes just after the quarter-hour mark.

The hosts won the ball cheaply in Ardley’s half, launching an attack which saw Danny Langford wrongfoot goalkeeper Jack Goode and flick the ball into the net.

It got worse for the visitors shortly afterwards, when a missed header allowed Ashley Searle to break.

He crossed for Niall Hodgkins to slot it into the net.

The closest the visitors came to pulling a goal back before the break was a free-kick from Gardner, which shaved the bar.

Ardley improved in the second half and came close to halving the deficit just before the hour, when Bryan’s cut-back led to a goalmouth scramble.

The goal finally did arrive six minutes from time, when Gardner was brought down in the box.

He despatched the spot-kick himself, but despite a late push they could not salvage a point.

It came three days after United’s winless start was ended at Bracknell.

Shane Cooper-Clarke hit the bar for the hosts in the first half, but Ardley had the better of the play after the break and scored what turned out to be the winner on 66 minutes.

Chris Jackson headed a corner against the bar and Andy Prescott reacted first to fire home.