1 | ||
2 | ||
3 | ||
4 | ||
5 | ||
6 | ||
7 | ||
8 | ||
9 | ||
10 | 12, 82m | |
11 | 15, 65m | |
BENCH | ||
---|---|---|
12 | 10, 82m | |
14 | ||
15 | 11, 65m | |
16 | ||
17 |
The game was affected by driving rain and blustery conditions, but Aylesbury still lacked creativity going forwards and too often relied on the front two to create chances for themselves.
Aylesbury had the first chance, defender Andrew Smith in the right place to clear Carl Kavanagh's goalbound header off the line at a corner kick.
The same player escaped a penalty after fourteen minutes as Ben Stevens burst into the box and seemed to be brought down by Smith, but referee Mr Scott wasn't interested.
United continued with a number of half chances coming their way, Graham heading a Faulkner free kick wide of the target and then Faulkner twice hitting weak efforts from outside the area when he might have been better running the ball closer to goal.
On the half hour mark Jason Castello got in down the right, beat his man and fired in low and hard, but goalkeeper Carl Jay was up to the effort and made a save.
It was Stourport who went closest to opening the scoring in the first half when Adam Robinson rattled the woodwork with a free kick, Adam Blake following up but found Tom Vincent alert as he made a fine reflex save to keep out the rebound.
The remaining first half chances all went the way of the visitors ? Richard Colwell shooting well wide and Craig Webb being picked out with a square ball but only hitting a weak shot from distance that Vincent easily claimed.
Half-time: Aylesbury 0-0 Stourport
In similar fashion to the Willenhall game United had played out an even first half, but raised their game just enough to score an early goal after the break.
Ben Gallant popped the ball through to Faulkner whose shot from the edge of the box and his shot took a heavy deflection to wrong foot keeper Jay. 1-0 Aylesbury
Faulkner then struck another long shot from range which was easily gathered by Jay.
The game then saw a rare moment of true quality when Faulkner set Graham through with a clever reverse through ball and he raced away before going for goal with a flighted chip that fell just wide.
It was Faulkner who then threatened again when he headed a Ben Stevens free kick over the bar.
Vincent kept his side's lead intact on the hour mark when he made a great save to keep Colwell's shot out after the Stourport man was given too much time to get his shot away.
The game then entered something of a lull as Aylesbury were unable to build on their lead, but they were rarely being threatened by their visitors.
Inside the last ten minutes Graham did well to beat two men but saw his shot tipped away by Jay. Faulkner was first to the rebound but again Jay kept the ball out.
Stourport had a great chance to level at the death when a ball was allowed to come all the way across the area where their seemed to be players queuing up to have a shot, but Liburd made a fantastic block to deflect the ball out.
Predictably it was in-form Faulkner who finally made the game safe for Aylesbury. Springing the offside trap he ran through to curl the ball past Jay when one-on-one. 2-0 Aylesbury
That was game over and another three points in the bag, but this wasn't a convincing display by Aylesbury my any means. The Ducks will now look to the return of Sam Swonnell as the catalyst for the improvement they need against Bishops Cleeve on Monday.