It was a frustrating night for the Moles, who had plenty of chances to grab the points, but two set-pieces was enough to condemn them to defeat.

The game had a lively opening with three goals in 18 minutes, as Ardley struck either side of an Adam Cornell header for Binfield.

But after falling behind for a second time, the hosts couldn’t find a way back in as they spurned several opportunities to draw level.

And Binfield boss Roger Herridge was left frustrated by his first defeat in the league as Moles gaffer, but highlighted plenty of positives from his team’s performance.

“It’s disappointing to lose as we deserved to get something out of the game,” he said. “We were punished for switching off at two set-pieces in quick succession.

“That is frustrating as we had talked about it before the game but then we fall for it twice. It’s just a lack of concentration and communication which is annoying but I feel we deserved to get something after that.

“For the rest of the game we were the team that looked most likely to score, but their keeper [Jack Harding] is one of the best in the league and he made some outstanding saves.

“On another day we’d have taken the chances, and we were missing a couple of key players like Seb [Bowerman] so there’s plenty of positives to take from the game.” It was the first time Herridge has tasted defeat since being appointed Moles manager, but he is confident his side can bounce back to stay in touch with Ascot United and Highmoor Ibis at the top of the league.

The Moles have two games a week for the next three weeks, with a crunch clash with Ascot in the middle of that run.

And Herridge is not concerned by his side’s loss ahead of a cruical run, insisiting that he’s happy with his squad and confident that the Moles will get the results needed to stay in contention.

“I’m delighted with the squad and where we’re at,” he added. “I didn’t get carried away after five straight wins and I’m not going to get carried away after one loss.

“We’ll learn from the Ardley game and we’ll make sure we put it right when we go again this week.” In a frantic opening, Binfield had an early chance to take the lead but Cornell stabbed wide after failing to properly control a drilled cross.

Ardley went up the other end and forced a corner, which they took advantage of to take an early lead.

The Moles allowed the corner to reach the far side of the six-yard box, and after Chris Jackson’s free header had gone up in the air, Ricky Johnson was on hand to volley home from six yards.

It was the perfect start for Ardley but Binfield provided an instant response, levelling just two minutes later through Cornell.

Alex Luis and Jemel Johnson combined down the left-hand side and the latter delivered a perfect cross to Cornell, who powered a header past Harding in the Ardley goal.

The high intensity of the game continued after the Binfield leveller, and Ian Davies and Jack Broome went close to putting the Moles ahead shortly after.

But it was the visitors who regained the lead in the 18th minute, from another corner. The Moles switched off allowing a short corner to be taken, and Luke Ingram’s flick at the near-post was enough to loop the ball over Dan Weait.

Binfield pushed forward looking for an equaliser before the break, but Josh Pearson, Johnson and Cornell were all denied as the Moles went in behind at half-time.

The second-half inevitably didn’t match the first for pace and intensity, with Ardley happy to sit in and protect what they had against the hosts.

It wasn’t as easy for Binfield to create chances, but they had a golden chance to equalise with just 12 minutes remaining.

A flowing move down the left-hand side resulted in the ball being pulled back to Carl Withers on the edge of the box.

His low drive was somehow tipped away by Harding, before the keeper got up quickly to make an even better save as Pearson struck the rebound for what seemed like a certain equaliser.

A late cross from Jamie Connor caused panic in the Ardley defence but the visitors held on to frustrate the Moles, and take all three points back to Oxfordshire.

The Moles host Brimscombe & Thrupp on Saturday (3pm) before travelling to Reading Town next Tuesday (7.45pm).

• Binfield progressed to the second round of the Bluefin Sport Challenge Cup on Saturday with an extra-time win at Finchampstead.

With the score level at 1-1 at full-time, Jack Broome struck in the second-half of extra-time to grab the win.

The Moles got off to the worst possible start as they conceded within four minutes, Sam Price firing home from a free-kick.

But Binfield got back on terms after 30 minutes, Gary Callaway heading home from a Josh Howell corner.

The second-half saw Binfield pushing for a winner to prevent extra-time ahead of a league fixture just two days later.

Broome went close to a winner at the end of normal time, before Jamie Connor forced a fine save out of the home goalkeeper.

The game went to extra-time and it followed the same pattern as the second-half, with the Moles dominating as they looked to grab the win.

And the goal came in the 108th minute, though it was a goal that was incredibly unlucky for Finchampstead, who had defended superbly.

A Bowerman cross was cleared into the midrift of Broome, and looped into the net for a goal that he knew very little about.

Finchampstead pushed forward late on but their heroic effort came to nought as Binfield held on to progress to the second round.