After a fantastic performance on Tuesday evening against Beaconsfield, it was perhaps unsurprising that manager Tony Joyce elected to keep the same starting XI against mid table St Ives. However, Paul Edgeworth and Bill Morgan who were both unavailable for the previous match both returned to the substitute’s bench. Unlike Tuesday, it was the visitors who started the game the stronger, passing the ball around well on a pitch that had markedly dried out since the last match. The first goal scoring opportunity came in the 5th minute, the sturdily built centre forward Karl Gibbs getting free down the left, but his shot didn’t trouble Jack Sillitoe in the home goal, going high and wide of the target. The Duck’s first chance fell to Dom Petrucci five minutes later. After exchanging passes with Keith Williams down the left flank, he was well placed to meet the cross from the full back, unfortunately, like Gibbs before him, his header cleared the bar.

The balance of play stayed with the visitors, with the home side not really getting to grips with the passing game the visitors were successfully employing. They opened the scoring in the 18th minute, with skipper Lee Ellison finding Jon Stead wide on the left, whose cross found Avelino Vieira unmarked on the right edge of the penalty area. His left foot volley from 20 yards was sweetly struck and found the far corner of the net, leaving Sillitoe rooted to the spot. The second was not long in coming, Alsop this time finding Stead on the edge of the box, his shot from the edge of the box again leaving the home keeper helpless. It was obvious that things needed to change if the Ducks were to get back into the match, but it was unfortunate that an injury to midfield dynamo Greg Williams was the catalyst. He was replaced by Bill Morgan in the 32nd minute after suffering what looked like a recurrence of the ankle injury that forced him off on Tuesday evening. Morgan took up his familiar role in the centre of defence, with skipper Jack Wood moving up to midfield.

Just two minutes later, a long throw from Shane Wood was punched out of the 6 yd box by Bennion, but Stead could only clear the ball for a corner. From Liam Smyth’s ball in, Bennion this time struggled to get much purchase on his attempted punch, the ball falling to Steve Hatch whose shot from point blank range was deflected away for another corner by Dan Newman, from which Dom Petrucci headed the ball onto the top of the bar, although Bennion appeared to have it covered. The Ducks were much more in the game by now, Liam Smyth striking a shot from outside the area which was deflected wide. He was much more successful a couple of minutes later; Sillitoe’s long clearance downfield was mis-headed by Mitch Hancock to Stacey Field, who tee’d up Smyth, this time his shot from 25 yards found the far corner of the net, albeit with the aid of a slight deflection.

Two minutes into the second half Petrucci robbed Stead on the half way line. He combined with Field who played the ball back to him towards the edge of the box, where he struck a fine volley from 20 yards into the top corner giving Bennion no chance. The elation of the home crowd was cut short just 60 seconds later. This time Gibbs cleverly found Stead rushing into the box, his shot from 15 yards beating Sillitoe to register his second of the game and regain the lead for the visitors. That was to be Stead’s last involvement, as he sustained a hamstring injury in the process of scoring.

The game was a much more even affair in the second half, with a succession of substitutions from both sides disrupting the flow of the match somewhat. It was St Ives who threatened to extend their lead, with Nathan Horne twice going close. First he got on the end of a cross from the left, but fired wildly over the bar when well placed to score. Then a ball played up to Vieira was flicked to substitute Waters who played an audacious pass over the defence, but again Horne lifted the ball over the bar when it seemed easier to score.

Aylesbury continued to press for the equaliser, and finished the game strongly. In the 80th minute, a run from Field found substitute Jason Blackett on the edge of the box. He neatly sidestepped his marker and fired a shot from 20 yards which crashed off the underside of the bar; Field following up could only shoot over the bar. However, the equaliser wasn’t long in coming; a square ball from Williams found Steve Hatch, who chipped the ball into the area. Edgeworth ghosted into space and beat Bennion to the ball, his header nestling in the bottom of the net to complete the scoring. It was the last of six goals, all of which were of the highest quality. It wasn’t the end of the action though, both Hatch and Blackett having opportunities to win the game for the Ducks, but Bennion did enough to preserve the point for his team.

Shortly afterwards, the referee blew his whistle to end what had been a thoroughly entertaining match, which was a fine advert for the Calor League, and a credit to both teams, played on a very uneven and bobbly surface. The Ducks now move on to tackle league leaders Rugby, away from home on Tuesday evening, hoping to carry on the good form of the last two matches.