DEFENSIVE frailties and a missed penalty cost Frome Town dearly in this game as they lost by the odd goal in five to Arlesey Town, who then moved above them in the relegation battle.

Frome started brightly enough and had a Rhys Baggridge header ruled out for offside in the 12th minute.

But after Arlesey’s Kim Forsyth had hit the bar, they took the lead in the 23rd minute as Frome’s keeper Lewis Pierre called for the ball and slid out only for Hallelujah Basmel to beat him and loft it into the empty net.

On the stroke of half time, the visitors' keeper Nick Thomson took down Ben Worlock in the penalty area, but immediately made amends as he threw himself to his left to save from the normally immaculate penalty of Kris Lewis.

Three minutes after the break, Lewis Haldane fed Ollie Taylor who levelled the score as he rounded Thomson and rolled the ball into the net, but then Arlesey made it 2-1 three minutes later as George Ironton scored direct from a right-wing corner with the ball seeming to pass clean through Pierre’s hands.

The gloom deepened as Ironton made it 3-1 from the penalty spot in the 65th minute after Pierre had impeded Basmel following a poor clearance.

With the save of the match coming from Thomson, to push away a Taylor volley, Cameron Brown made it 3-2 in the 85th minute as he charged down a Thomson clearance and rolled the ball into the empty net, but Frome failed to equalise with a golden opportunity as a Rodriguez failed to hit the target from a free kick.