Aylesbury put a small dent in Dunstable Town’s title challenge as they held their 2nd placed hosts to a 3-3 draw on a day when either side could have taken all three points – Aylesbury holding a 2-0 half-time lead, whilst the Blues laid siege to the Ducks goal for most of the game but wasted chance after chance.

Town will also point to decisions going against them – notably an alleged handball in the build up to one of United’s goals and a clear-cut looking penalty going unawarded – but they had the opportunities to put the game to bed.

Take nothing away from Aylesbury though, whose performance was hungry from the outset and well deserving of a point at the very least.

Tony Joyce named an unchanged lineup for only the third time of the season as new signings Joe Donaldson and former Dunstable man Russell Clark took their places on the bench.

The home side had two great chances inside the first two minutes when Holmes and then Frater both shooting disappointingly over the bar from inside the box, but it was Aylesbury who took the lead in the 10th minute.

Hallford whipped in a curling free-kick from the left hand side which veteran keeper Paul Taylor allowed to slip from his grasp, and Edgeworth was on hand to stab the loose ball into the net. 1-0 Aylesbury

In doing so he became the first player since Cliff Campbell in 1988 to score 50 goals for the club.

Dunstable weren’t long in coming back on the attack though they continued to waste their chances. Judge slammed a shot over from 10-yards having been teed up, and striker Roache flicked a header wide from Holmes’ right sided cross.

It wasn’t all one-way traffic though and the Ducks had a string of successive efforts as Edgeworth spun and shot over. He went closer still moments later having got between defenders to head Slatter’s just wide.

Stacey Field then tried his luck with an instinctive early effort having got on the end of Mulholland’s firm defensive header but fired wide.

Too often Dunstable were guilty of trying to walk the ball into the net rather than have a shot at goal, but midway through the half Jon Cooper –goalscorer at Bell Close earlier in the season – did manage to get an effort away but it was straight at Sillitoe.

Against the run of play, United then added a second to their tally. The impressive Hallford cut inside from the right wing and crafted a delightful curling effort into the top corner with his left foot, giving Taylor no chance. 2-0 Aylesbury

Seconds later the Blues were unlucky not to have a goal back when Holmes hit the post with a rasping free-kick effort, before Acheampong shot wide from long range at the other end.

United were forced to introduce Donaldson before the break when Slatter was withdrawn having earlier twisted his ankle and replaced by the new man.

Further openings came and went for the hosts as the interval loomed, the first period brought to an end by Edgeworth going unbelievably close and grazing the crossbar with a free-kick from practically on the half way line.

Half-time: Dunstable 0-2 Aylesbury

Aylesbury came out after the break on the front foot and Acheampong skewed a shot wide straight from the kickoff, Edgeworth shot just wide with another superb effort, this time on the half-volley from 25-yards. There was also a brief goalmouth scramble after a right sided free-kick which eventually came to nothing.

Dunstable then turned on the pressure and began to lay siege to the Ducks’ goal. Judge cut in from the left but saw his shot strike Mulholland and loop just over the bar, before Brennan bent a shot wide of the target from distance five minutes later.

Judge was teed up again on the edge of the box, but yet again shot over, with Roache also guilty of misplaced finishing as he rolled a shot all the way across goal and wide from a tight angle.

At the other end Aylesbury took advantage of Dunstable’s throwing men forward and Acheampong burst through the middle to go one-on-one with Taylor, but the home keeper won the duel by saving.

It would surely have put the game out of Town’s reach, and instead, they pulled a goal back soon afterwards. Holmes’ free-kicks had been a threat throughout, so it was no surprise that a goal arose from one of them, but it was disappointing from United’s point of view that his delivery into the box went straight into the goal with no intervention. 1-2

The Ducks then suffered another blow when key man Hallford had to leave the party injured, replaced by Tom Barnett in the midfield with Stacey Field moving wide to the right.

The Dunstable pressure hadn’t subsided, Judge firing a dipping effort over (again) the bar, but on 69 minutes they drew level. A cross in from the right dropped kindly for Cooper, and he calmly slotted the ball home past Sillitoe. 2-2

Further chances came the home side’s way and Sillitoe was fully extended to tip Frater’s curler spectacularly past the post, Judge heading over from the resulting corner.

Edgeworth went for goal with a 25-yard top corner bound free-kick which was well plucked out of the air by Taylor.

Either side could have re-taken the lead at this point, Holmes seeing a wind-assisted free-kick having to be tipped over by Sillitoe, whilst Acheampong had a shot gathered in by Taylor having broken free again.

It was the Ducks who did edge in front on 81 minutes. Jones’ pinpoint delivery was met by a header from Field, which directed the ball nicely into the path of Baines who headed into the bottom corner. 3-2 Aylesbury

With nine minutes plus stoppage time still to play, Aylesbury were faced with a barrage of pressure with Mulholland nearly putting through his own net, a Roache shot hitting a defender in the box before being cleared, and Brennan firing wide from distance to the frustration of his teammates.

The Ducks were given a let off when an apparent trip by Mulholland on Roache in the box didn’t tempt the referee to award a penalty, and it looked like United might complete their ‘smash and grab’ with all three points.

But the onslaught had to eventually pay, and deep in stoppage time the ball was scrambled home after a corner kick to ensure parity at full time. 3-3

There was even still time for Sillitoe to make another good save, the rebound fired into the side netting, and although deserved on number of chances alone, to deny Aylesbury a share of the spoils would have been hard on the valiant Ducks.