Aylesbury were sent crashing to their first away league defeat of the season by Bromsgrove Rovers, who were helped in no small part by a harsh call by referee Mr Parker.

With the game finely balanced, a suspiciously offside looking Jason Taylor ran through, took a poor touch when going around Tom Vincent before leaving his leg trailing long enough to win a very questionable penalty. With Vincent shown a second yellow card, the net result was Ben Stevens in goal and ten-men Aylesbury behind for the first time of the afternoon.

From that point there was to be no return for the Ducks, who looked drained as they faced the final ten minutes in the soaking conditions.

It was all a far cry from the opening half hour when Aylesbury had taken the lead and looked a genuine threat every time they had the ball.

It was the home side who had the first effort, the dangerous Cameron Jones shooting straight at Vincent having collected a poor clearance.

Aylesbury took a while to settle, and they were nearly undone again two minutes later when a deep cross had to be cleared off the line amongst a nervy looking backline. The ball was fed quickly to Chris Marsh who ran goalwards before eventually shooting wide.

That boosted United's confidence and they set about picking apart their hosts' defence from that point. Henney was played in by Marsh, commited the keeper, but saw his shot cleared away from danger by Dennis Pearce.

Marsh brought a save out of Jimmy Dormand on twenty minutes, a Hawkins cross headed down into his path, his left footed effort turned smartly around the post.

The pressure looked to be building, and it eventually paid off with the opening goal. Ross Taylor got a firm connection on Mead's corner kick to score his second of the season. 1-0 Aylesbury

Although a regular threat going forwards, this wasn't the Ducks' defence finest afternoon. The decision to deploy Roni Joe as a centre back certainly didn't pay off, and those around him seemed to be unnerved by his presence.

One such player was Tom Vincent, who twice rushed from his line in quick succession, the first time heading clear, where Graham Deakin retrieved but couldn't find the target. Then moments later he charged again only to bring down an opponent on the flank, for which he received a yellow card amongst strong appeals for his dismissal.

Bromsgrove were starting to come back into proceedings, and with United's defence struggling a shot trickled all the way across goal, then Jones shot well over the bar when well placed.

At the other end another couple of chances came and went, Hawkins having a shot blocked having shown great determination to win back the ball on the touchline before making for the area. Danny Mead then wasted a good chance, unable to get hold of his shot after Swonnell's ball had found him unattended at the far post.

Once again chances not taken were to be costly for Aylesbury, as seconds later they were back to square one. A long ball was misjudged by Joe at the back, allowing Jason Taylor in to score on his Bromsgrove debut with a finely measured lob. 1-1

That certainly handed the initiative to the home side, and it was backs to the wall for the remaining five first half minutes. Kevin Banner was let in behind the creaking defence, but he could only pull his shot all the way across goal.

Bromsgrove should have gone in ahead, but for a shocking miss by Jason Taylor, diving in on the end of Jones' cross, but heading wide of the open goal.

Half-time: Bromsgrove 1-1 Aylesbury

The second half was hampered by the elements, as increasingly heavy rain began to fall in addition to the constant strong winds battering The Victoria Ground.

Stevens had an early curling free-kick comfortably held by Dormand, and Nathan Graham went close with a volley over the bar after Dormand punched a corner into his path as Aylesbury had a couple of early chances.

Rovers' first effort of the second period came the way of Dean Craven when a clearance fell invitingly to him, and with the whole goal to aim at he should have made Vincent work a lot harder than he had to.

Goalmouth action was harder to come by after the break, a Stevens free-kick flashed across goal, and Leach headed a corner kick over, as the game degenerated as quickly as the weather.

The action entered something of a lull as both sides continued to cancel each other out, but the Ducks suffered a blow with another injury sustained ? Craig Henney pulling up and having to be withdrawn with a suspected hamstring problem.

The game's defining moment arrived twenty minutes later, and after dusting himself down and the protests had ended, Taylor stepped up to score his second on an endearing debut with the home faithful. 2-1 Bromsgrove

There was to be no way back for the Ducks from that point on, the ten men huffed and puffed but looked out of ideas.

Jones was having a field day down the right, as he got free time and time again in the closing stages. His final ball was always a threat too, one cross having to be swept behind by Leach, then Stevens coming off his line to smother well at his feet on another occasion.

In the very last minute he was rewarded with a goal to his name. A low cross this time was met by a combination of Leach and Stevens, who between them could only deflect the ball into the net ? to add a flattering third to Bromsgrove's score. 3-1 Bromsgrove