Aylesbury completed an impressive league double over 3rd placed Chasetown to keep their faint playoff hopes alive. Richard Pringle's first half strike was enough to secure the Ducks' first win in six games.

Following the surprise departure of club captain Enzo Silvestri, Nick Leach lead the side out as captain, where in front of him Matt Butler replaced the Leighton-bound midfielder and the returning Andy Shed replaced unavailable Luke Melisi up front.

Shed and Pringle soon hit it off again in attack, in the same style they had at the start of the season, and the two were involved in the first attack inside a minute. Shed played Kevin Mealor through down the left and his cross found Pringle at the far post who didn't make proper contact and headed wide.

Chasetown's first meaningful effort came after five minutes when at a corner kick Tom Vincent couldn't get enough distance on his attempted punch, Karl Edwards lashing wildly over the bar. The hosts then suffered a blow when wing-back Mark Branch was forced off injured.

The Scholars were without their top scorer Lee Bullimore and it showed, Chasetown offering very little going forward. Their only other chance of the first half came after Carl Kavanagh slipped in possession allowing Ashley Robinson to nip in and shoot, but it was an easy catch for Vincent.

The game's defining moment came in the 27th minute. Richard Pringle latched onto a quick ball forwards by Matt Butler, and with his back to goal fired an overhead kick which struck the inside of the far post and rebounded in off the despairing Lee Evans. 1-0 Aylesbury

Six minutes later Pringle spotted Evans off his line and tried an audacious 35-yard lob but the direction was lacking and Evans gathered, in the last action of the opening period.

Half-time: Chasetown 0-1 Aylesbury

A fired up home side emerged from the interval, strikers Robinson and Edwards both received quick yellow cards for strong challenges. United escaped a good Chasetown chance when a cross in from the right found Spacey unmarked, but he mis-kicked and two follow-up efforts were blocked.

Vincent made his only save of the match two minutes later although Mark Branch really should have scored from less than five yards after a rare mistake in the Ducks' backline gave him the chance.

Having weathered the mini-storm, Aylesbury resumed attacking and the threat of Shed continued when he got the better of Chris Slater but could only watch as his early shot rolled agonisingly wide with Evans beaten.

The front two combined well again when Shed flicked on Vincent's long kick before his fellow striker Pringle lobbed just wide after Evans was again found off his line.

Shed came even closer to grabbing a deserved goal on the hour mark when he headed Julian Old's cross with power towards the top corner, Evans making a superb fingertip save to deny him, after Pringle's sheer determination had won back the ball.

Chasetown made two changes to their side, but it did little to affect the way the game was going. Shed had another shot just wide after the ball broke to him from a long throw-in and Mead fired a long distance free kick just over the bar as Aylesbury searched for a second goal.

The home side finally had the ball in the back of the net in stoppage time, but the referee had blown up long before for a foul on Vincent by two climbing home players.

Aylesbury had to dig deep in the dying seconds to preserve their lead as Chasetown forced a succession of corners. The second nearly produced a dramatic equaliser when goalkeeper Lee Evans headed narrowly over the bar.

All in all it was an excellent afternoon's work for the Ducks who produced some good football and outplayed their hosts for most of the game. In particular the displays of the reunited front pairing and the entire defensive unit were fantastic and a well deserved three points travelled back down the M40.