1 | ||
12 | ||
3 | ||
4 | ||
5 | ||
6 | ||
7 | ||
8 | 14, 68m | |
9 | ||
10 | 15, 73m | |
11 | 16, 83m | |
BENCH | ||
---|---|---|
18 | ||
14 | 8, 68m | |
15 | 10, 73m | |
16 | 11, 83m | |
17 | ||
MANAGEMENT | ||
M |
On a ground where the Ducks had never so much as scored previously, United came up against a big and strong physical outfit and shaded a tight encounter with two set piece goals.
A match of limited chances got off to a slow start although Greg Williams saw a shot saved on the line by keeper Tom Blackman in the sixth minute, with Ben Baines’ follow up also blocked as Aylesbury went close.
Jamie Eames, as he has before, proved to be Colney’s stand out player and it took a low save from Jack Sillitoe to keep him at bay when his curling 35-yard free-kick might have been creeping in.
United were changed in personnel again, but produced another defensive master class to keep a fourth successive league clean sheet or over two months in calendar terms.
In the 19th minute Paul Edgeworth lashed a shot over the bar after a move started and finished by the midfielder as he progressed down the right before finding Stacey Field whose cross was headed down into Edgeworth’s path by a defender.
Three minutes later and Mulholland’s header from a corner kick was straight at Blackburn as defences continued to be on top, though it took an illegal challenge Dave Corran to prevent Louis Austin running clean through for which he received one of four Colney Heath cautions.
From the resulting free-kick, the deadlock was at last broken. A typical inswinging free-kick from Daniel Jones picked out Greg Williams who athletically stuck out a boot to toe-end the ball goalwards where it trickled over the line. 1-0 Aylesbury
The Ducks nearly doubled their lead almost immediately when, from another set piece, Mulholland headed Edgeworth’s delivery past Blackman and back across goal where the ball dropped just out of reach behind Williams.
As half time approached Aylesbury found themselves having difficulty retaining possession, and five minutes from the interval the burly Jack Coombs struck a decent effort which required a diving save from Sillitoe, who held the ball well.
Half-time: Colney Heath 0-1 Aylesbury
The opening moments of the second half saw Corran come inches away from sending the ball into his own net after miscuing a long ball. The corner kick was only cleared as far as Edgeworth who picked out the unmarked Steve Hatch with a deep cross but he couldn’t get proper contact on his header.
Attacking play continued to take a back seat as defences stood out, but what chances there were generally went the way of Aylesbury – except for a long range effort from Tom Dickie which was both high and wide.
Playing down the slope, United’s frontline pace was a regular threat after the interval and as Louis Austin galloped away in the 56th minute he tried to pick out his strike partner Field with a low ball but a combination of keeper and defender managed to smuggle the ball away.
Field himself then suddenly broke free of the defence but, on something of a disappointing afternoon for the Ducks top scorer, could only produce a weak effort straight at Blackman.
Colney went straight down the other end in a rare moment of end-to-end action, with Sean Brettell stinging the palms of Sillitoe who once again displayed flawless handling in keeping hold of the ball.
Another Edgeworth corner was headed over by Mulholland, but the combination weren’t to be denied for long and came up trumps after 66 minutes. Edgeworth’s delivery from the right was met with a bullet header into the top corner and, having been ‘robbed’ the week before, Mulholland celebrated his first goal since October. 2-0 Aylesbury
Eames looked to bring his side straight back into proceedings with a near post shot that flew wide, though curiously the referee awarded a corner which Heath were unable to profit from.
With the result seemingly settled, the Ducks introduced all three substitutes of Shane Wood, Joey Acheampong and Zac Reynolds, whilst Jack Wood was caught by a nasty looking tackle from Josh Humbert from which he thankfully suffered no lasting damage.
Five minutes from time Sillitoe made a great punch under pressure from a deep Eames free-kick delivery, and then at the other end Austin was played in down the right where his cross-cum-shot looped up off a defender and flashed just past Reynolds’ waiting forehead.
Reynolds and Austin both went close in stoppage time as Colney ran out of steam, but United were more than happy to hear full-time blown and the winning of another important three points.
Ampthill Town
Leverstock Green
Colney Heath
Aylesbury United
Dunstable Town
Stotfold
Berkhamsted
AFC Dunstable
Hatfield Town
Haringey Borough
Hertford Town
Tring Athletic
Hillingdon Borough
Hadley
Holmer Green
Oxhey Jets
London Colney
Harefield United
London Tigers
Hanwell Town
St. Margaretsbury
Biggleswade United