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Aylesbury lost three games in a row for the first time in over four years as they were beaten 4-0 at Bedworth United.

The Ducks made themselves at home on Bedworth’s recently installed, superb 3G artificial surface, playing some of their best football of the season in the first half, only for two defensive lapses at corner kicks to see the hosts take a flattering two-goal advantage to the interval.

After the break was a different story, with Aylesbury unable to make any headway, and their deplete squad lacking a ‘game changer’ on the bench, as the hosts did a good job in closing the game out and added a further two goals to complete what was eventually a dominant win.

With Shane Wood and Paul Edgeworth out injured, Steve Hatch and Jason Blackett unavailable, and Lee Grace suffering a family bereavement in the morning, United had just Lewis Osborne and manager Tony Joyce as their only named, present, and fit, substitutes.

Liam Smyth therefore made his league start since August, with Ryan Freshwater, Joey Acheampong and Zack Reynolds – available due to being cup tied for his new side Hemel Hempstead Town – all drafted back in.

Aylesbury made a sluggish start to the match, and were punished after just eleven minutes when Daniel Dubidat got ahead of his marker to crisply volley home Luke Rowe’s corner kick. 1-0 Bedworth

Despite the early goal, the Greenbacks weren’t able to build on their lead as the Ducks came back strongly.

A great move down the right saw Reynolds whip in a low ball to Jesse Waites only for his shot to be blocked in the area.

Midway through the half and Aylesbury did have the ball in the net when Stacey Field latched onto Acheampong’s flick, and although his initial shot was blocked through to goalkeeper Hinds, he prodded it into the net as it ran loose but was penalised for fouling the stopper.

Two minutes later and the woodwork came to Bedworth’s rescue when Morgan guided Waites’s corner towards goal, where Freshwater hit the post from close range, with Acheampong unable to capitalise having got to the rebound.

Aylesbury were close again just before the half hour mark when Jake Bewley’s 25-yard free kick was successfully arced up and over the wall, but just past the post, and four minutes later Reynolds’s cross in was flicked goalwards by Field but straight at Hinds.

Waites then tested the home goalkeeper with a rising drive from range having cut in from the left, but Hinds proved himself a safe pair of hands as he took the shot confidently.

The catalogue of missed opportunities were to come back and haunt the Ducks, and hitman Dubidat helped himself to a second shortly before half time. Morgan conceded a cheap corner kick, which Rowe took inswinging from the right this time, and as Aylesbury failed to clear their lines Dubidat pounced to fire home. 2-0 Bedworth

He could have had a first half hat-trick when another corner kick in stoppage time was this time volleyed wide by the Greenbacks leading scorer.

Half-time: Bedworth 2-0 Aylesbury

Whilst the two-goal cushion was harsh on Aylesbury’s first half performance, the second period was a different story as Bedworth very effectively closed out a stop-start and often scrappy affair, and showed clinicism in front of goal their visitors lacked.

Some simmering early tensions emerged that saw several players booked, and there were also several stoppages in play for various injuries to be treated.

Bedworth came close to extending their lead when Dubidat was played in by his strike partner Alex Naughton, who had turned away from Morgan, and Duidat’s strike across Sillitoe came back off the upright.

The irrepressible Dubidat wasn’t to be denied though, and just a minute later completed his treble when a ball across the box wasn’t cut out, and the home number ten slid in to convert from close range and net his 15th goal and third hat-trick of the season. 3-0 Bedworth

With any hopes of an Aylesbury comeback now firmly extinguished, the flow of the game continued to be in one direction, with Rowe’s free kick turned behind by Sillitoe, and then yet another corner kick hitting Dubidat and ricocheting behind.

Dubidat went for his fourth on 70 minutes when he showed good perseverance to make himself first to a long ball downfield, and got a shot away which was straight at Sillitoe.

A rare second half effort from the Ducks saw Waites shooting straight at Hinds from the edge of the box, but it was the Greenbacks who extended the scoring. Naughton latched onto a half clearance and, from the edge of the area, bent a well placed shot past Sillitoe into the net. 4-0 Bedworth

The closing stages saw Aylesbury rediscover their passing quality of the first half, and an 86th minute shot from Jake Bewley crashed just wide into the side netting, but it was the hosts who came closer still when Kurtis Mewie’s long shot came back off Sillitoe.

Another disappointing result from Aylesbury as their recent downward spiral continues, the Ducks now need to pick themselves up as they face old rivals Chesham United in a midweek Red Insure Cup tie derby.