Aylesbury made a near-perfect start to the 2012/13 season – scoring four without reply and advancing to the next round of the FA Cup against Enfield 1893.
In a dominant first half the match was effectively ended as a contest just before the half hour mark when the Ducks scored their third.
United lined up with debutants Bircham, Reynolds, Hatch and Cooper in the side and – in something of a surprise – Marcus Sawyer also took his place in left-midfield as Tony Joyce opted for a 4-4-2 system.
His charges made a flying start to the match and after surviving a very early Enfield corner, took the lead with just four minutes gone. A free-kick from the left corner of the penalty box was curled deliciously towards goal, beyond Ashley Harris and into the net for the opener. 1-0 Aylesbury
It might have been two when Hatch met Sawyer’s corner kick on the near post and headed over, but the greens didn’t have to wait long. In the fourteenth minute Cooper and Field took full advantage of poor defending with the former slotting through for the latter to guide into the net past Harris. 2-0 Aylesbury
The Ducks were well in control of proceedings and Bircham came close to a debut goal when a deep corner was headed back across goal – Bircham meeting the ball but Harris making a good save on the line to deny him.
The follow up was fired back with interest against the foot of the post by the unlucky Sawyer, before Wood miscued the second rebound badly and the ball ended up behind the goal.
A minute later Cooper got the better of the defence but couldn’t direct his long-range lob beyond the wayward Harris.
In the 28th minute, and with an almost carbon-copy move, he found the net. A long defensive clearance was snapped up by the lively forward, who finished superbly over the stranded keeper and into the net for his debut goal. 3-0 Aylesbury
With the game won United eased up somewhat for the closing stages of the first half, and Enfield were afforded their first meaningful attempt at the end of a swift counter attack – but Ashley Taylor-Forbes could only blaze high and wide when presented a clear sight of goal.
Aylesbury still had the better chance of the first half, Hatch missing a sitter after Bircham had dropped a perfectly placed free-kick for him but he could only kick thin air, whilst Joey Acheampong saw a header turned wide by Harris after good link-up between Reynolds and Sawyer down the left.
A turn and shot from Andre Taiwo was the best of Enfield’s remaining efforts, before the half was rounded off by Cooper heading into Harris’ arms from Wood’s head back across goal.
Half-time: Aylesbury 3-0 Enfield
The start of the second half saw the visitors take the game to their hosts as Enfield were much improved, forcing a number of early corners which all came to nothing.
They had a great chance in the 55th minute when the ball was cut back for the unmarked Taylor-Forbes, but he let fly with a shot which went miles over the bar. A long shot from the same player six minutes later fared no better.
Enfield were having more of the game but never seriously threatening, with the match seemingly petering to a close, and Jack Sillitoe remained untested throughout the ninety minutes.
Aylesbury introduced substitutes Williams, Townsend and, late on, Donaldson, and it was Williams who added a fourth United goal in the final moments.
Catching Harris off guard he nicked the ball as the keeper bounced it, before curling an outrageous 30-yard left footer into the top corner of the empty net. Enfield protested the goal’s legality – but couldn’t deny the quality of the strike, as ‘The Leader’ marked his return to green and white in spectacular fashion. 4-0 Aylesbury
Prior to that Enfield came as close as they would for the entire match. The Ducks made a mess of clearing their lines, gifting the ball straight back to Aaron Cato and the former Cockfosters man rattled the bar with his shot.
In the last minute there was still time for Paul Edgeworth to miss two unbelievable chances when first he fired over an open goal from two-yards after Garcia’s great work and cross was flicked on by Field. Then, he did similar with a header from the same position after fine play by Acheapong this time.
It mattered not as the result and handsome scoreline had been settled well before that, setting up a Preliminary Round tie for Aylesbury against Northwood at Bell Close in two weeks time.
