Aylesbury exited a second cup competition in the space of three days, as their BigFreeBet.com Cup campaign was ended at the first hurdle by Marlow at Oak Tree Road.

Glyn Creaser rotated his squad and made seven changes to the team that had lost out at Folkestone Invicta in the FA Cup, with only Jake Bewley, Tyriq Hunte, Greg Williams and Jack Wood retaining their places in the starting eleven.

It took the hosts just 13 minutes to get off the mark when the impressive Kelvin Bossman outwitted the Ducks defence before crossing from the right where Kameron English arrived late to thump home an unstoppable finish. 1-0 Marlow

English – who was a late inclusion on the teamsheet – was at it again seconds later when he sidestepped his marker but saw another powerful shot well saved by Michael Chalmers, Marcus Mealing only able to skew the rebound well wide.

The Ducks remained under the cosh with Marlow hitting the woodwork for the first time of the night three minutes later. Bossman got the better of Chris Cordara-Soanes before cutting the ball back to Jordace Holder-Spooner whose shot hit the outside of the post.

Aylesbury had only fashioned half chances in response, their best of which came in the 28th minute when a part clearance resulted in a strong Ashlan Bubb shot being blocked, before it fell to Reece Cameron who in turn headed to Tyriq Hunte for an effort which was similarly closed out.

Cameron himself then struck a shot from just outside the area which was straight at Oneal Garnes, but it was far from a serious threat on the Marlow goal.

By contrast, the Blues then hit the frame of the goal again through Holder-Spooner’s free kick which came back off the underside of the bar. In the proceeding scramble another foul gave the same player another free kick opportunity, this time Chalmers doing well to turn the ball away.

Marlow continued to dominate as the unmarked Bossman headed wide from Mealing’s cross after a quickly taken throw in, before an effort from English was once more well fielded by Chalmers who was one of the few Aylesbury players to do his cause no harm on the night.

Despite all of that, the game was surprisingly level at half time. A 35-yard free kick was dispatched by Hunte and, whilst on target and curling, Garnes had it well covered yet somehow allowed the ball to squirm through his raised gloves and into the net. 1-1

Half-time: Marlow 1-1 Aylesbury

United then did the unthinkable and edged in front just over a minute into the second half. Bewley’s ball in from the left was collected by Cameron, who neatly shimmied before slotting it into the bottom corner on Garnes’s near post. 2-1 Aylesbury

The injustice of the scoreline wasn’t to play on the minds of the hosts too much as they quickly set about their recovery. Bossman was slipped in behind the defence where he dinked the ball over Chalmers only to see his shot come back off the bar before being heroically scraped off the line by Cordara-Soanes, with the well positioned assistant referee quick to signal no goal.

A corner kick three minutes later was blocked behind for a second, from which a free header for Jay Welch hit the post (woodwork strike number four!) and fell to Mealing only for a saving challenge from Jake Bewley in the box to deny him.

Chalmers did excellently on 65 minutes to race from his line and beat Bossman to a through ball without bringing him down, and Marlow kept up the pressure as Ryan Coyle headed straight back to English but he sliced his shot badly wide.

Substitute Callum Gallimore crashed a volley wide having been set up by Holder-Spooner, and a looping header from Welch comfortably cleared the bar as the minutes ticked by and Aylesbury edged closer to nicking a shock win.

But Marlow kept probing, and Chalmers made another good save on 74 minutes to deny Junaid Bell who was played in despite looking suspiciously offside. The resulting corner fell to Mealing for a shot that was kicked off the line by Bewley.

Eventually the pressure had to tell, and the equaliser duly arrived with twelve minutes to play. Bell again deemed just onside by the assistant to run through and this time he beat Chalmers when one-on-one. 2-2

It took just five minutes for Marlow to complete the second turnaround of the night and re-take their lead. Mealing’s free kick was just about kept out by Chalmers, and from the resulting corner the ball came out to Bell lurking on the edge of the box and his shot bounced awkwardly past a seemingly unsighted Chalmers. 3-2 Marlow

Four minutes from time and Blues captain Jay Welch was sent off for an awful, overstretching tackle on Coyle that left the referee little option in a moment totally out of context in the game overall.

Even reduced to ten men, the hosts managed to add a fourth to their tally. Chris Cordara-Soanes had his pocket picked by a Marlow substitute, who found himself clean through with Mealing square for company who was found for an easy finish. 4-2 Marlow

It meant a second successive Tuesday four goals conceded, and with three in the final twelve minutes of the game another Tuesday night capitulation.

The Ducks will be looking to address their poor form – which now sees them winless in five game – and avoid an unwanted hat-trick of cup exits when they travel to AFC Sudbury on Saturday to compete in the FA Trophy.