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Aylesbury United got their season underway, although a 2-1 defeat at home to Sutton Coldfield Town probably wasn't what new manager Tony Thompson had in mind when picking his first team.

And he certainly wouldn't have been expecting such a sluggish start from his team, as the Ducks found themselves two down in less than eleven minutes.

Just three minutes in and a through ball lead to Justin Rowe outpacing the United defence and coolly finishing past Aylesbury debutant Delroy Preddie in goal.

Things got even worse seven minutes later. Kevin Mealor's sliding tackle failed to stop winger Matthew Dodd, and he skipped away before playing in Rowe who turned provider, laying the ball off for Mykel Beckley to double his side's lead.

As they struggled to get into the game, Aylesbury's first effort on goal didn't come until midway through the half when Sam Swonnel struck a speculative drive straight at Chris Gemmell.

Preddie made a good save to deny Beckley his second on 35 minutes with a fierce near-post effort.

Aylesbury improved in the closing stages of the first half and pulled a goal back three minutes before the break. Liam Smyth picked up the ball on the halfway line and went on a fantastic dribble, cutting into the area and eventually passing the ball into the net.

After the break things were more even, but United lacked a cutting edge up front and always looked susceptible to Sutton Coldfield's counter-attacks. One such move lead to Rowe getting into the box and beating his man but slicing his shot well wide.

Four minutes later Beckley found himself unattended at the far post on the end of a flighted free-kick, but he wasted the opportunity and skewed the ball way off target.

At the other end Swonnel fired a free-kick straight into Gemmell's arms in a rare attempt on goal from the home side.

Aylesbury's best chance of claiming an equaliser seemed to be from set plays, and a corner kick was almost turned in after Gemmell lost the ball under pressure from Carl Kavanagh, but the ball was scrambled away in the nick of time.

In almost the last action of the game Gemmell kept his side's three points in tact with a superb reflex save from close range from a Kavanagh header, and it was disappointment for the Ducks after much pre-season optimism.