After their midweek defeat, manager Mark Eaton made a number of changes, bringing Ross Taylor into defence in place of Carl Kavanagh, Kevin Mealor replacing the injured Ben Stevens, and Ross Lafayette was handed a debut in attack having signed from Chesham earlier in the week.

In the hazy Saturday sunshine, there was something of a sleepy tone to the game as it drifted by with little incident in the opening stages.

A deep ball in from Chris Marsh had to be turned away by goalkeeper James Russell, and Jamie Osborne might have done better at the other end when he shot well over the bar when well placed.

Arlesey again fashioned themselves a good opportunity when the ball was played through to Liam Beaumont, but his low shot was turned over the bar from close range by an offside Osborne.

Aylesbury's first true shot at goal arrived with 18 minutes played when Mealor drove an effort over from 25 yards after Lafayette had headed into his path.

With a rare moment of quality in the game, United took the lead midway through the half. Mealor got in a cross from the left which took a slight deflection before Marsh latched onto it and struck a perfectly executed volley and the ball crashed into the net leaving Russell no chance. 1-0

A minute later it was nearly two when Graham outmuscled a defender to win the ball before squaring for Swonnell. His effort was blocked but rebounded only as far as Mealor whose shot cannoned off a defender and then the post before being cleared away.

The game soon returned to its pre-goal slow pace, but was interspersed with the odd chance for either side.

The Ducks were by far the better users of the ball, and some great football ten minutes from the break ended with Mark Boyce's cross being met by the head of Mealor, but he could only direct his effort straight at Russell.

At the other end Osborne was continuing to be an unpredictable threat, and this time he beat James Saulsbury before running on and crashing a shot off the outside of the post and wide.

On the stroke of half time Arlesey's task was made a whole lot harder when Russell received his marching orders for handling outside the area. A ball over the defence saw a race on between Graham and Russell, and after the Aylesbury man won he attempted to flick the ball over the keeper only to be denied by Russell's upraised hands and the inevitable red card duly followed.

James Dillnut took over between the sticks, and his first action was a comfortable catch of Sam Swonnell's free-kick which followed.

Half-time: Aylesbury 1-0 Arlesey

Against ten men it looked like a second goal would arrive before long as Aylesbury made a positive start to the second half.

In the first minute Graham hammered a shot over the bar from Boyce's excellent delivery, and a minute later the same player fired wide of the target after running on to Swonnell's ball over the top and having just Dillnut to beat.

Lafayette was the next to miss the target five minutes later when Mealor released him with a pinpoint through ball, but the shot rolled wide of the post.

Dillnut was proving a competent replacement between the sticks and he did well on the hour mark to rush from his line and save at the feet of Matt Butler after some lovely linkup between Graham and Marsh, and a delicate ball over the defence from the latter.

At times, things seemed almost too easy for the Ducks and they often overcomplicated matters when taking the simple option would have brought more success. As it was, they began to struggle for ideas and the chances dried up as the half wore on.

In the next twenty minute spell the only noteworthy action on either goal was a Swonnell shot which was dragged badly wide after a corner and a wayward effort from Beaumont for Arlesey which he might have done better with having been afforded lots of room to get in a shot.

Aylesbury introduced all three of their subs to try and inject a bit of urgency into their play, but aside from a Neil Roberts effort which struck Dillnut in the chest ? reminiscent of Greg Williams playing in goal for United of yesteryear ? there was little to write home about in the closing stages.

In fact, the visitors came a whisker away from snatching an underserved draw eight minutes from time when a free-kick played into Osborne saw him make room for a shot with quick footwork, his rising drive grazing the crossbar.

A second goal just wouldn't come for Aylesbury, Butler the man denied in the final minute of normal time by a crucial interception after a trademark blistering counter-attack by Aylesbury from what had been Arlesey's corner kick.

The match ended in bizarre circumstances with two further dismissals for The Blues. After the ball had gone Matt Clarke appeared to strike out at Marsh, an offence spotted by the linesman who alerted the referee. The repercussions were the award of a penalty to Aylesbury, red card for Clarke, and a second yellow for his captain Luke Gregson for his protests.

Marsh stepped up, but his usual spot-kick composure deserted him and Dillnut made a decent save. An additional goal just wasn't going to come for Aylesbury, but three points was the requirement and that target had been achieved which was the crucial factor.