Hucknall Town fall behind after 15 seconds and are hammered by Aylestone Park in play-off six-pointer

The Yellows left themselves with a mountain to climb after conceding five goals within the first 32 minutes of the match, and although the visitors improved in the second half, they deservedly travelled home empty-handed.

Town boss Andy Graves said: “

Shortly after the match, Yellows manager Graves said: “I don’t have any complaints about the result – we got what we deserved after our first half performance.

“I don’t think they [Aylestone] had to properly work for a goal, and that’s been the issue for us all season.

“In some games you can get away with it if you’ve got two or three players who aren’t quite at it, but not seven or eight.

“At half time it was realistically about showing a bit of character, rolling our sleeves up and playing with a bit of pride. In the second half we came out, were a bit more purposeful and played the way we can play.

“It’s disappointing but they have to learn from it. We’ve been here before and have bounced back, and that’s what we’ve got to do now, because there are some tough games coming up.”

Free-flowing Aylestone looked to make Hucknall feel uncomfortable from the off and took the lead only 15 seconds into the contest when Aaron Preston rolled the ball home neatly after some good work by winger Besongbap Beck-Ray.

Just two minutes later, Preston had another goal to his name, striking past Keaton Sharpe confidently from the penalty spot after Aaron Nuttall had been fouled by Courtney Bartley.

Town tried to find an immediate response with forwards Grant Ryan and Craig Westcarr linking up on a few occasions. Arguably the visitors’ best chance of the first period fell to Lenford Jenkins, who nodded Jordan Phillips’ cross just over Thomas Holyoak’s bar.

Midway through the half, Beck-Ray increased the Park’s advantage when he chipped the ball over Sharpe’s head. Louis Kinnerley did his best to prevent the goal but was ultimately beaten by the power of the effort, and unfortunately sustained a knee injury in the process, which forced him off the field.

Aylestone centre-back Declan Towers took the game further away from Town’s reach on the half hour mark when he diverted Tom Hill’s free-kick into the net with his chest, before Preston completed his hat-trick by scoring another penalty moments later.

Hucknall appeared keen to restore some pride when they returned to the pitch for the second half, and eight minutes in, striker Ryan forced Holyoak into his first significant save of the day with a driven effort from range.

Nuttall netted a sixth goal for Aylestone on the hour mark, steering Josh Hill’s cross past Sharpe, before Joe Ashurst scored at the other end just three minutes later.

A bad afternoon for Town ended with captain Aaron Short sent off five minutes from the end for a professional foul.