Ah the Semi-Final of the FA Trophy! Usually only a passing phrase where Aylesbury United are concerned, a phrase reserved for teams such as Yeovil, Canvey or Woking. But today that's exactly what we're playing in. And we're gonna enjoy it!
The match saw a sea of green around a packed Buckingham Road. Green was indeed order of the day, as the Linnets play in Green like ourselves.
Unfortunately the start of the match didn't live up to the hype. The opening exchanges saw the Ducks looking nervous, and unable to get out of the starting blocks. Adam Campion went on an early run, but he pulled his shot wide. Shortly afterwards, Danny Gordon made a good clearance from a dangerous cross, before the ball could reach a forward.
Gary Martindale hit a long-range effort for the visitors, before Lee Underwood made an impromptu exit, to be replaced by Marvin Molyneux. The impressive Martindale then had the best chance of the game. Breaking free of the Ducks defence, he brought down a ball over the shoulder, and found himself 1-on-1 with Worgan. His shot was placed to the young keeper's right, but Worgan got down to make a superb one-handed reflex stop. From the resulting corner Ryan Bowen hit a shot well wide.
Burscough then had another chance to score. Peter Wright menacingly cut inside his defender, but his shot was saved by Worgan. Aylesbury then had their first effort of the match. Dwayne Plummer, like Wright before him, cut inside his man, and his left-footed shot was blocked by a despairing challenge by a defender.
The best chance of the game then fell to the visitors. A long ball forward saw Lee Worgan charge out to meet it, and whilst he got a piece of the ball, he collided with a Burscough attacker, and found himself stranded. With only fresh air to beat, John Lawless could only steer his shot off target.
Half-time: Aylesbury 0-0 Burscough
The second half began with Joe Baker replacing Rory Hunter on the left-wing, to try and inject a bit of flair. The move seemed the pay off, as Aylesbury stepped up their play, and were much more of a force for the opening stages of the second half.
A lovely move from the Ducks saw Adam Campion play a Beckham-esque cross-field pass to Baker, who nodded the ball onto Kezie Ibe. The youngster held the ball up well, with his back to goal, before laying the ball off to Maskell. His fierce shot was well parried by the keeper, and Kezie couldn't control his shot from the rebound, and the effort went over.
At the other end, some positive play from Burscough resulted in a goalmouth scramble, during which the ball could have ended up anywhere. A number of players took a swing at the ball, before it was eventually cleared with interest by Fiston Manuella.
The match was suddenly much more lively, and the play was much better from the home side. Kezie Ibe tried a left-footed half-volley following an Ifura flick-on. It was a good piece of skill, but the shot dipped just over.
Then the moment the Ducks had been waiting for - a goal. The ball was rolled to Craig Maskell, and with seemingly nothing available to him, he tried his luck on goal. The Golden Touch was unleashed, in the shape of a sublime chip, which had the keeper rooted to the spot. The ball agonisingly hit the far post, then bounced off the near post, before deciding to bounce into the net. Magic! 1-0 Aylesbury
Maskell then had another chance, as he tried a quick shot, which went well over. Burscough then survived a penalty appeal, which incensed the home support. As Greg Williams burst into the box he appeared to be shoulder charged off the ball, but the referee wasn't interested. With the Ducks players and supporters up in arms, Burscough went up the other end and scored. Martindale, from an apparently offside position, broke free and kept his cool to slot the ball past Worgan. 1-1
Roni Joe replaced Adam Campion to try and give the Ducks a boost. Dwayne Plummer had a good effort, after some nice play down the left flank. At the other end Martindale hit a volley way over the bar.
Towards the end of the game, Ducks fans were treated to the rather odd spectacle of Steve McGrath playing as a centre forward, after he replaced Kezie Ibe. In the dying minutes, Maskell had a chance to grab the advantage for the Ducks. As the ball fell to him, the experienced striker was wrong-footed, and his shot was over.
In the end a 1-1 draw was a fair result on the balance of play. Burscough were much the better side in the first half, but United came back into it in the second. We know now though that we'll have to be at our very best next week in the second leg.
