Aylesbury's ?mini revival' of back to back draws was brought to a shuddering halt as AFC Sudbury benefitted from a damp squib performance to match the weather at Bell Close.
The bitterly cold and wet weather signalled that the long, hard winter has well and truly set in, and in terms of results nothing could be truer as the Ducks looked as far away from three points as ever despite their recent encouraging performances.
There were a number of changes to the team, including the much-heralded return of Pat Sappleton to defence, but even his presence couldn't avert this disappointing result. Even against a visiting side with one win in six and a massively depleted squad, United were easily beaten.
Warren Carter was back in goal for the Ducks as cover for the suspended Sillitoe and he had to be at his best in the sixth minute when Andy Hughes flashed a low shot across goal which Carter turned behind. The resulting corner was then punched away by the keeper under immense pressure.
A minute later James Nash went for goal in Aylesbury's first attempt, curling a left-footed effort well over the bar after a throw-in had dropped to him.
The game was developing into a scrappy affair with Sudbury looking dangerous when they did get the ball forward. They were also guilty of wasting possession on numerous occasions, with a number of passes failing to connect, but in the absence of Keith Newby Aylesbury were lacking their usual midfield bite and were unable to profit.
Aylesbury were increasingly reliant on long balls in the first half, and the strikers were subsequently left fighting for scraps ? particularly against towering former United centre-back Danny Brown. One such scrap did fall to Shiblu Miah on 26 minutes but his shot was blocked in the area.
As the half entered its' final fifteen minutes, it was the visitors who looked more likely to open the scoring. Heath was having a great game in midfield and his strong run saw him beat two men en route to the penalty box before the ball broke for two Sudbury players to see efforts blocked.
Three minutes later a teasing low cross nearly had Ayodele turn the ball into his own net, but he managed to spoon the ball over from virtually underneath his crossbar, and from the quickly taken corner kick the ball was delivered under no pressure to Danny Bloomfield who headed straight at Carter.
A rare Aylesbury attempt followed as Tyrone Taylor laid the ball back into the path of Rickelle Christian to drive over, but it was as close as United were to come in the first half as a minute later the Yellows went ahead.
Heath found himself freed in the inside-left position and although his first effort was well saved at the near post by Carter, the ball came back to him and he cleverly lobbed the ball into the net over the men stationed on the line for his 50th goal in Yellow and Blue. 1-0 Sudbury
It wasn't long before Sudbury doubled the scoring to kill off the game with a slick passing move, ending with the ball being slipped in to Bloomfield's path and he made no mistake. 2-0 Sudbury
Half-time: Aylesbury 0-2 Sudbury
After the interval Aylesbury did at least improve and attempt to take the game to Sudbury. In fleeting spells some decent football was played, but when it got to the final third the team seemed bereft of confidence and more often than not resorted to trying to walk the ball in.
Richard Wilmot ? a throwback to a more successful Aylesbury of yesteryear ? was forced into his one and only meaningful stop on 50 minutes when Nash seized on a loose ball and struck a low shot which was well saved.
At the other end Sudbury were quickly back on the attack, and a move ended with Stuart Walker lashing a cross-shot over the bar when he had players queuing up in the middle of the goal.
It was end to end stuff as Aylesbury pressed for a goal, with the visitors looking threatening with every counter-attack they launched.
Miah linked up with Nash on the edge of the area before driving an effort narrowly over the bar as United went close.
Then, five minutes later, Rhys Darg rode a challenge from Taylor on the edge of the penalty area before bringing the ball out of defence and releasing Andy Hughes with a fine pass. He galloped away before ending the move by curling the ball wide of the far post.
If it wasn't already over, Sudbury put the game to bed with a third goal after another good move. Heath sprayed the ball forward to Andy Hughes, and although his low cross was miss-kicked in the centre by Craig Hughes, Heath had continued his run to score his second goal of the night. 3-0 Sudbury
Tony Joyce introduced fit again Daddy Moses for the closing stages and within thirty seconds of his arrival he should have pulled a goal back when he latched onto a flicked header but overran the ball with only Wilmot to beat.
Pat Sappleton then headed a free-kick wide of the target as United did at least battle until the very last to try and find the net.
But it wasn't to be and instead it was the visitors who added to the scoring. Aylesbury's defence completely switched off and a right-wing cross found Andy Hughes without a green clad player in sight and he easily headed by Carter for a deserved goal on his debut. 4-0 Sudbury
Miah shot wide in the final seconds, but overall it was a hugely disappointing 90 minutes from Aylesbury's point of view in that they couldn't give their visitors a more testing evening.
