Following an impressive performance and victory against North Greenford on Wednesday evening, the Ducks made 4 changes to the starting line up at Uxbridge this afternoon. Alex Tokarczyk returned in goal having recovered from the injury that kept him out at late notice on Wednesday, with his replacement that night, Ben Grasso taking a place on the bench. Jason Blackett returned in place of Joey Acheampong, who also took a seat on the bench. The other 2 changes were enforced, with Richard Armstrong and Stacey Field suspended, Greg Williams and Ben Baines were their replacements. The Ducks kicked off with a strong wind at their backs, but a bright sun in their eyes. The first chance of the match fell to the visitors, and a good opportunity it was. A Keith Williams free kick was met at the far post by Jason Blackett, but his header from point blank range was bravely saved by Matt Elston Bull in the home goal. The game settled into a midfield battle as home skipper Wayne Carter became more influential and started pulling the strings for his side. In the 23rd minute, [player name removed] broke down the right wing and squared the ball into the penalty area, where Matty Woods laid the ball into the path of Chris Drake coming in from the left. Unfortunately for the home team, he couldn’t keep his shot down and it sailed over the bar. Just a minute later, the same combination of players combined, [player name removed] again finding Woods on the edge of the box, who laid it off to Drake. This time, his shot was straight at Tokarczyk, who saved comfortably. In the 28th minute, good work down the left by Jason Blackett saw him find Liam Smyth out wide. His deep cross to the far post was dropped by keeper Elston-Bull, who was lucky that there was no Ducks player following up, but also that the ball trickled just wide of the far post and out for a corner. Ten minutes later, a clever reverse ball from Dom Petrucci found Smyth breaking down the left. This time his searching cross was well claimed by the keeper with Blackett closing in. Following a heavy collision between Greg Williams and Uxbridge top scorer Woods, it was the home man who came off worst, with him having to be substituted by man mountain Craige Tomkins in the 40th minute. Just 3 minutes later, a fine move down the right saw Ben Baines combine with Petrucci, who moved the ball quickly on to Blackett. He in turn moved the ball across the field to Lee Grace who, arriving at pace, couldn’t find the target as the home keeper came off his line and did enough to force him to shoot wide. As half time approached, the Ducks had a golden opportunity to take the lead. The ball fell to Blackett on the edge of the box, but his firm shot was straight at the keeper. However, after his shot was on its way, home defender Mark Dennison dived in and took Blackett out after the ball had gone. The referee pointed to the spot, and up stepped Keith Williams to take the penalty. Just as the Ducks faithful were ready to celebrate a half time lead, the penalty was saved by Elston-Bull. In truth it was at a nice height for the keeper, but he guessed correctly and made good ground to his left to turn the ball away to safety.

The second half started well for AUFC. In the 51st minute, Grace fed Petrucci down the left. He spun away from his defender and played the ball towards Blackett on the edge of the box. The centre forward showed fantastic strength as he out-muscled Dennison and fired the ball into the net from 18 yards to give the Ducks the lead. The jubilation of the away fans wasn’t to last long though, as the curse of the quick reply struck. Less than two minutes had passed before the home team were back on level terms. Substitute Tomkins made ground down the left flank and found ex-Duck Kieran Knight in the 6 yard box. He swivelled on the ball and tucked it away past Tokarczyk to level the scores. The equaliser gave Uxbridge a lift and with Carter controlling play in midfield they were starting to boss the match. In the 62nd minute Tony Joyce made his first change, with Danny Jones replacing the unusually quiet Ben Baines. Straight into the action, he was beaten to a 50/50 challenge by the impressive [player name removed], who made ground down the right. The strike partnership combined well again; [player name removed] played the ball in towards Knight who dummied the ball and Tomkins was on hand to fire the ball past Tokarczyk to give the Reds the lead. In truth, the Ducks were sustaining a lot of pressure during the second half, with only the occasional break forward to raise the hopes of the away fans. Joyce made his second substitution on 76, with Joey Acheampong coming on for Grace with a change of formation to 4-3-3. The best chance for the Ducks came in the 79th minute. A pinpoint Danny Jones corner was met by skipper Jack Wood at the far post, but his goal bound header was cleared off the line by Thomas on the post. It was Uxbridge who finished the game the stronger though, with Knight having two great chances to extend the lead, firing over the bar on both occasions. The last chance for the Ducks came as the match entered injury time. A corner was won after good work down the left. Tony Joyce waved Tokarczyk forward for the corner, but the referee noticed a free kick that no one else had spotted, spoiling the keeper’s chance of any glory. The match ended with Greg Williams making a typically full blooded challenge in his own penalty area which, while it saved a goal, resulted in him leaving the pitch injured, to be replaced by the manager for the last couple of minutes.

It has to be said that the home side were worth their win today, at times it was a strangely lacklustre performance from the Ducks, undoubtedly missing two big players in Armstrong and Field. With a week off before the next game, there is the chance to reflect on a disappointing afternoon and recharge their batteries before facing Marlow at home next Saturday.