Kings Langley’s poor away run continued with a convincing 3-0 defeat at promotion-chasing Ware.

The visitors had been hoping to build on Saturday’s 4-2 home victory over Kidlington but were sunk by a Theo Ofori brace, either side of a very controversial Jon Clements penalty, on Monday.

With the former having just a faint glimmer of play-off potential and Ware well in the mix for the Southern League Division One Central title, the match started in surprisingly pedestrian fashion, with neither team achieving any early penetration.

That changed abruptly in the 14th minute when the fleet-footed Ofori crashed home a loose ball after Kings failed to clear.

The visitors responded with sporadic though generally dangerous counters, with Louie Collier an ever-present threat to the home rearguard.

From one of these sorties Kings should have equalised when Anthony Ball’s piercing run and cross found Temi Akinbusoye, but the striker’s effort lacked conviction and Fred Burbidge saved easily.

The exchanges remained cautious and the half seemed to be drifting to an uneventful conclusion until added time saw it propelled into climatic controversy with the award of a highly dubious penalty to the home side.

With both ball and attacking player seemingly outside the box there seemed little threat of such a significant sanction, but the referee deemed an offence had occurred on the line and that allowed the reliable Clements to double Ware’s advantage at the break.

It was a match defining moment, as the second half saw the home side look to preserve their advantage with a policy of containment with the regular threat of a counter offensive.

To be fair, Kings made a concerted effort to retrieve the situation and Collier, Rayan Clarke and young substitute Jake Tibbetts – fresh from his two goals off the bench at the weekend - all had good opportunities to reduce the arrears but were thwarted by a combination of last ditch defending and competent goalkeeping.

Inevitably, Kings’ commitment forward made them vulnerable to the counter and the ever-dangerous Ofori took full advantage by doubling his personal tally.

The predatory striker’s clinical finish gave the score a slightly flattering look for the home side but it was a deserved victory that keeps their promotion aspirations very much alive.