A Shane Cooper-Clark brace helped fire Ed Carpenter's side to a 3-1 victory over Newbury on Tuesday evening.

The Robins raced into a 2-0 lead after just 30 minutes after an excellent display of early attacking football.

Cooper-Clark grabbed his first of the game when he met a Tom Barratt cross to head the ball beyond the Newbury goalkeeper.

The lead was doubled shortly after when Cooper-Clark turned provider as his flick-on was fired home by Martin Bradshaw to put Ed Carpenter’s men firmly in the ascendancy.

It stayed that way until the 70th minute, when Newbury pulled a goal back to reduce the deficit.

Good work by Matthew Pedder set up Danny Langford who drilled the ball home to set up a grandstand finish.

But the Robins were professional in their approach and the ever-reliable Cooper-Clark sealed the win when he poked home following good work by Dan Broadbear.

The Robins went into the match full of confidence after they had won 2-0 at Cheltenham Saracens on Saturday thanks to two own goals.

Preparation for the game was tough for the Robins, with several players delayed due to traffic and only arriving at the ground half an hour before kick-off.

But the pre-match frustration was soon replaced by joy as the Robins went 1-0 ahead just two minutes in when a Barratt corner was headed into the net by a Saracens defender.

The Robins settled down after the early boost and created several chances on a tough, bobbly pitch that leant itself towards a direct style of play.

The second goal came midway through the second-half and it was a total gift as the hosts’ goalkeeper dropped the ball into his own net after a long throw from Barratt caused confusion in the home defence.

From there on, it was plain sailing for the Robins and Carpenter was delighted at full-time, praising a professional job well done by his side.

“It wasn’t the best of preparations,” he admitted. “But we came through that and got the job done.

“I am not going to criticise them as I appreciate sides have to stick to a budget but the pitch was dry which made it hard to play football and we had to adapt our approach.

“But we did that and got the reward with good win. They were competitive and better than their position suggests but we were deserved winners on the day which was pleasing.” Carpenter’s men entertain Kidlington on Saturday (3pm), and Carpenter wants his side to take their away form into their games at Larges Lane.

Bracknell recorded their first home win of the season last time out against Reading Town, and Carpenter has challenged his side to build on that this week to help put the Robins in a strong position after 10 games.

“I said to the boys after Saturday’s win that it’s now time to take our away form to Larges Lane,” he said. “We’ve been inconsistent at home but it’s about time we made Larges Lane a tough place to come.

“Normally you win your home games and draw your aways but it’s been the other way round for us so far this season which is a bit strange.

“Kidlington will be a tough game and they’ll be well organised and hard to beat but we’re confident we can beat them.

“I had a chat with the Cheltenham manager and he gave me a few ideas about how to approach them, as well as watching them against Binfield so I feel we’re suitably prepared for the game and confident of a result.” It wasn’t such a good week for Ascot United as they were held by a spirited Thame United to end the Yellamen’s run of three successive wins.

Leon Yarnie and Jermaine Roche combined early on to give Jeff Lamb’s men the perfect start when Roche headed home from just five yards out.

But the hosts weren’t ahead for long as Thame struck back six minutes later when Marcus Mealing’s shot beat Chris Grace in the Ascot goal.

The Yellamen struggled to create many chances against the resolute visitors and had to settle for a point which put an end to any hopes of leaping to top of the Hellenic Premier Division.

Next up for the Yellamen is a home clash with Thatcham Town this Saturday (3pm).

Binfield FC suffered an evening of frustration as they shot themselves in the foot en route to a 2-0 defeat at home to Kidlington.

The Moles were looking to build on a hard-fought 4-2 win at home to Shrivenham on Saturday, but fell to defeat after two individual mistakes in the second-half proved fatal on Monday evening.

It was a fast and frantic start as both sides pushed forward looking for the opening goal, but a lack of creativity meant chances were at a premium early on.

The Moles did threaten and caused panic in the Kidlington defence on several occasions when the ball pinged around the six-yard box but it wasn’t to be and the score remained level at the break.

Binfield had the best chance of the game to break the deadlock just moments into the second-half but Adam Dickens’ goalbound header was blocked, before Ian Davies’ follow up effort was cleared off the line as the Moles pressed for an opener.

But as the hosts pressed, they were caught out by a lack of concentration to fall behind in the 58th minute.

A long throw into the box wasn’t cleared and Tom Castle was left alone to fire the visitors into the lead.

Binfield poured forward looking for an equaliser and were cruelly denied as Josh Howell’s deflected effort went inches wide.

Dickens also saw his goalbound effort superbly blocked before appeals for a penalty were denied after a goalmouth scramble saw screams for handball from the Binfield attack.

Mark Tallentire’s men were then hit against the run of play again following another series of defensive errors.

A clearance inside the Binfield box struck Joel Havermans and landed perfectly for Rob Johnson to drill the ball past Dan Weait in the Binfield goal to put the visitors two goals up with just 12 minutes remaining.

The Moles rallied late on but it wasn’t enough as they slumped to their second home defeat of the season.

Tallentire was frustrated by the result and admitted his team brought it on themselves, with individual mistakes costing them a point.

“When you lose a game it’s always disappointing,” he explained. “I said to the boys that the team who kept their shape and kept knocking at the door ended up winning that game tonight.

“We shot ourselves in the foot a bit by being gung ho and not being disciplined enough tonight.

“There weren’t loads of chances and it was an even game. We made a mistake five minutes before the goal and the fella missed an open goal so the signs were there. The way the goals came about was disappointing.

“The first one a long throw that we’ve not dealt with properly. We’ve not tracked runners in the penalty area and we’ve paid the price.

“The second goal we’ve gone to clear it and it’s hit our own player on the backside so it was a comical goal to concede.” Binfield now sit ninth in the Hellenic Premier Division after eight games.

They’ll be looking to bounce back with two tough trips to Flackwell Heath on Saturday (3pm) and Highworth Town on Tuesday (7.45pm).