And so to the second half of the Aylesbury-Kingstonian double bill. After the excellent Easter period, the Ducks fine run of form had been halted by the Ks two days earlier, with a 0-1 away defeat.
Once more, there were a number of changes to the team. Steve McGrath, Phil Dicker, Adam Campion, Chris Bangura and Craig Maskell all returned to the starting eleven, with Greg Williams, Ben Martin, Roni Joe, Dwayne Plummer and Kezie Ibe making way.
The game started very slowly, with no real chances or anything of any note taking place inside the opening 15 minutes. The closest either side came to a goal was when Lee Worgan dropped a high ball, and Tim Sills, goalscorer two days earlier, tried to turn the ball home, but found himself surrounded in the box.
With the first meaningful attack of the game came the Ducks goal. A ball played up the middle was controlled by Craig Maskell, who dropped a ball over the top of the Kingstonian defence. Chris Bangura controlled the ball on his right, and lobbed the stranded Lance Key in one swift movement. 1-0 Aylesbury
Kingstonian tried to respond immediately, as they attacked the Ducks goal. Dave Clarke touched the ball back to Scott Steele, who hit a shot from the edge of the area, straight at Worgan.
With the game now much livelier than in the opening period, Aylesbury also found themselves able to fashion chances. Adam Campion turned, ran, and shot wide. A few minutes later the youngster found space to shoot from distance, but his effort skimmed the post.
The visistors were then forced to subsitute keeper Lance Key, and he was replaced by Adrian Jones.
Aylesbury were doing well to restrict their opponents, whilst keeping up the pressure in Kingstonian's half. Some superb slow build up play around the Ks penalty area saw several Ducks involved, before Campion crossed the ball into the box, and Craig Maskell headed off target. The assistant manager knew he should have done better, as he found himself completely unmarked.
At the other end Lee Worgan made a stunning point-blank stop to deny Chris Whelan a headed goal from a free-kick, just before half-time.
Half-time: Aylesbury 1-0 Kingstonian
The second half started in pretty much the same manner. Aylesbury were trying to get the crucial second goal, and Kingstonian were being restricted to long punts down field, and with the strong wind behind them, the ball was often going straight out of play.
A corner was headed goalwards for Aylesbury by a combination of Steve McGrath and Fiston Manuella. This was to be the last action for McGrath, as he collected an injury in the process. With Aylesbury down to 10-men, Kingstonian attacked, and a cross went all the way across the face of the goal, and nearly crept in at the far post.
Matt Rolfe replaced Steve McGrath, with Phil Dicker moving into central defence.
With the Ducks' tails up, the home side poured relentless pressure on the Kingstonian goal, but the away side stood firm. Bangura raced clear, and from the byline his right-footed shot went just over, due to the impossible angle.
Adam Campion then had a couple of chances to wrap the game up. First Maskell played a through ball to put him free, but the shot was pulled just wide of the post. Then Bangura played Campion free, and his early shot from wide bounced just past the post.
The chances were now coming thick and fast for the Ducks. Matt Rolfe of all people came close, after he broke forwards down the right flank, played a one-two with Maskell, and fired a shot towards the top corner. Jones made a good stop to tip the ball wide. From the resulting corner Jones came to claim the ball but missed, and Marien Ifura could only head the ball over.
In a rare Kingstonian attack, Scott Steele had a similar effort to the one in the first half. The ball was played back to him on the edge of the area, but his shot was straight at Worgan. Soon after and Kingstonian were at it again, this time Max Husthwick arrived to volley the ball well over.
Some more good attacking work by Aylesbury saw a penalty appeal turned down, as Maskell appeared to be taken down by a takle. Campion then teed himself up to hook a volley behind him, which was well held by the keeper. A few minutes on, and Campion was again causing problems. After working himself into the box, he was unable to find a finish to match, and the ball went well over.
Finally James Pinnock rounded the game off with a couple of chances for Kingstonian. Lee Worgan got down well to save Pinnock's free-kick first, before the same player skied a shot soon after.
So another win for Aylesbury, and each game sees us another step closer to Premier Division survival. A win against Boreham Wood on Monday will see us mathematically safe from the drop.
