Aylesbury United's hopes of ending their long losing run were dashed as they slipped to a disappointing 2 - 0 home defeat by play-off hopefuls Hadley at The Meadow, Chesham.

The Ducks had gone into the game on the back of a 6 - 2 away defeat by Ware the previous Saturday which, with results elsewhere the same day, had left them in 14th place in the table, level on points with 13th placed AFC Dunstable (but behind on goal difference) with 12th placed Hertford Town a further 3 points ahead.

Meanwhile, Hadley went into the game on the back of a 2-0 home win over Stotfold the previous Saturday, which was their second straight win following a 2 - 1 away defeat by Biggleswade on 29th March.

That win over Stotfold plus results elsewhere the same day had left Hadley in 6th place, just one place below the play-off places with both 4th placed Thame United and 5th placed Barton Rovers 3 points ahead but with Thame ahead of Barton only on goals scored.

The first chance of note came Hadley's way in the 8th minute when Luke Massingham's back forward over the top from just inside his own half on the right found Finley Aldridge at the right front of the box and he took a touch before driving into the box and firing his right foot shot from an angle 12 yards out over the bar to Ducks keeper Jack Hopwood's left.

Another chance came Hadley's way in the 14th minute when Caollan McGettigan's long floated cross-field ball from 10 yards inside United's half on the right found Isaac Stones on the left. He took a touch to control and cut infield before passing to his right to Jordan Edwards, who in turn found Aldridge on the right, who took a touch to control and held the ball up well before sending a low ball into the box for Stones, whose right foot shot from 10 yards was gathered by Hopwood.

Another opportunity came the visitors' way just into the 24th minute when Billy Hayes' ball forward from halfway between the front edge of the centre circle and the edge of the Aylesbury box found McGettigan on the left and he showed some good footwork before seeing his eventual cross to the far post held by Hopwood.

Hadley were continuing to dominate and take the game to the hosts and they went close again in the 27th minute when McGettigan's corner from the right found Hedley Ogbedor, whose header from 10 yards was held by Hopwood.

Just 27 seconds later (just before the end of the 27th minute), Hadley took the lead when keeper Charlie Taylor's long aerial diagonal clearance from the middle of his box beat The Ducks' defence and found McGettigan, who took a touch to control and drove into the right of the box before sliding his low left foot shot from 8 yards into Hopwood's right hand corner. 1-0 Hadley

Then just into the 45th minute, Hadley went close to doubling their lead when McGettigan's aerial forward ball from 10 yards inside his own half found Jordan Edwards 25 yards out and he juggled the ball 3 times with his head as he ran forward before having his crops from the left well blocked by Will St Clair-Burton.

The last chance of the first half came the visitors' way 50 seconds into added time when Aldridge's through ball from inside the centre circle in his own half found Stones on the left of middle, who ran forward and although United's Tom Cove misjudged the first ball, he got back well to get his tackle in.

Half-time: Aylesbury 0-1 Hadley

The first chance of the second half saw Hadley go 2-0 up in the 50th minute when, from Bobby Webb's long ball over the top from halfway between the edge of his own box and the halfway line on the right of middle, Stones won a challenge with St Clair-Burton before sending a low diagonal forward ball wide to McGettigan on the left hand edge of the box. He cut inside past Ashis Rai and along the 18 yard line before Hopwood got a leg to McGettigan's right foot shot from 18 yards, with the ball looping up over the keeper and into his right hand corner. 2-0 Hadley

Hadley made their first change right at the end of the 53rd minute when George Alfieri came on to replace Massingham.

Then in the 55th minute, Aylesbury made all their 5 substitutions in one go with Liam Batchelor-Morgan coming on to replace Rai, Sonny French coming on to replace Chris Manangu, Darren Brew coming on to replace Haziz Kone, Freddie Joyce coming on to replace Daniel Lodovica and Kacper Kloc coming on to replace Harry Stratton as manager Dave Tuttle looked for a way to try and get his side back into the game.

Hadley made their second change in the 66th minute when Jesse Effa came on to replace Aldridge, before making their third change just before the end of the 70th minute when Cheik Zidouemba came on to replace Stones.

After the plethora of substitutions, the next chance came Hadley's way in the 77th minute when Hayes' through ball from the left found Effa, who chased into the box and rounded Hopwood to the keeper's right before firing his left foot shot from 12 yards wide of Hopwood's right hand post.

Hadley made their fourth change in the 82nd minute when Josip Jevdjic came on to replace McGettigan.

The visitors made their final change in the 85th minute when Harry Nevins came on to replace Hayes.

What proved to be the last chance for either side came Aylesbury's way 1 minute 8 seconds into added time at the end when Brew's long ball over the top from the halfway line on the left found French on the left, who took a touch and turned before cutting in slightly and having his curling right foot shot from 25 yards tipped over the bar by Taylor to his left. It says much about Aylesbury's performance that it was their only real shot on goal in the entire game.

Then after an eventual total of 3 minutes 57 seconds of added time, the final blast of referee Sam Lee brought the game to a close and confirmed Aylesbury's latest defeat.

It takes their losing run to 11 matches in all competitions, which beats not only the run of 9 straight losses in season 2022-23 but the run of 10 in season 2021-22.

A search through the club's archive results reveals that although there was another run of 9 straight defeats in all competitions way back in season 1946-47, the results further back than that are incomplete so this is The Ducks' worst losing run since at least before the Second World War.

Surely this wretched run has to end sometime soon.....