Ten man Aylesbury United were comprehensively beaten by title hopefuls AFC Rushden & Diamonds, after an early red card left the Ducks to play over 75 minutes a man short and with Greg Williams in goal.

Whilst the red card, somewhat controversial in its award, might not have directly influenced the result, it denied United the opportunity to contest the match on an even footing having competed well in the early stages.

There was also no disputing goalkeeper Zaki Oualah’s dismissal –referee Mr Forrester given no choice after he had taken out Tommy Berwick when clean through on goal. However, Berwick had been in a clear offside position when receiving the ball, not seen by assistant Mr Trinder, leaving the hosts infuriated the events that followed.

Prior to Oualah’s departure he had made a good save with his legs to block Berwick’s first minute effort from a tight angle as Rushden looked to bounce back from a disappointing weekend defeat at Godalming with a strong start.

It fell to Williams to don the gloves, not for the first time in his long Aylesbury career, and he was soon in the thick of the action. Hoban’s resulting free-kick for Oualah’s foul hit the wall before falling to Berwick who put it over.

Three minutes later and the ball was played through to Andy Hall whose low shot was kept out by a brilliant low save by Williams.

He could do nothing but watch in admiration as Diamonds finally made the breakthrough after 21 minutes. His goal kick was held up horribly in the wind and eventually dropped to Hoban who unleashed a tremendous 25-yard shot into the top corner that had the stand-in keeper beaten all ends up. 1-0 Rushden

One then quickly became two, ‘The Leader’ not enjoying his moment in the spotlight quite so much as he failed to claim the ball having advanced from his line, Hall chipping in a cross for Berwick to score from close range. 2-0 Rushden

A few weeks back the Ducks might have rolled over and endured a humiliating night, but Glyn Creaser’s men stuck to their task of making life difficult for clearly superior opponents.

The visitors’ best chance of making it three before the break fell to Berwick who latched onto the loose ball after a good block tackle from Alex Collard on Hoban, but could only curl it over the bar.

Bunting should also have at least hit the target moments before the interval when a long cross in from the left found the midfielder running into the box who fired over.

Half-time: Aylesbury 0-2 Rushden

Two half time substitutions and a switch to a three-man defence were bold moves from Creaser, and when Diamonds scored again with two minutes of the restart they looked to have backfired. The defence was opened up with alarming ease, the ball squared for Hoban who somehow hit the post, but Bunting was on hand to net the rebound and save his side’s blushes. 3-0 Rushden

There now really was no coming back for United with Rushden more than comfortable in their lead, certainly more so than when the two had met back in August and needed a last minute penalty to take the points.

As the visitors continued to pepper the home goal with shots, Williams did well to hold a drilled low free kick before seeing of a Hoban near post effort after he rode a challenge from Jack Wood. The veteran then made another good save to turn Berwick’s fierce drive behind for a corner kick.

Having not mustered a shot in the first half, Aylesbury only had a couple of wayward Paul Lyon long-shots to their name in the second, until the 74th minute when they finally tested goalkeeper Matt Finlay. Sean Immanuel, against one of his former clubs, drifted inside before trying a curling shot that had to be tipped wide.

Back at the other end and United’s defence was sliced open again only for Lorraine to wastefully poke a shot wide at the end of it. A fine pass by former United man Dolman then set Brad Harris away but his low effort was deflected off target.

Immanuel went close again, this time with a well struck free kick that Finlay had to turn over the bar, which lead to a succession of five back-to-back corners. Jake Bewley and Sonny French put in a number of testing deliveries, and from the third a defender was inches away from heading into his own net, before the fifth set piece was met by Wood and stopped right on the goal line by Finlay.

That was the closest the Ducks were to come, and Rushden took the opportunity to introduce two debutants, and it was one – youngster Matt Pinder – who created a stoppage time fourth goal. His jinking run into the box ended with a square pass for another scholar Joe Ackroyd to score his first for the club on his league debut. 4-0 Rushden

A tough night for Aylesbury, always likely to be the case ahead of the game, only made tougher by the early sending off. Creaser’s men didn’t disgrace themselves though, and with arguably more ‘winnable’ games on the horizon, will be looking to take the same level of commitment going forwards.