Aylesbury United returned to action this afternoon facing Egham Town at Bell Close. The visitors arrived on a 6 match winning run in league and cup, having scored 20 goals and conceded only one in that time - perhaps not the ideal opposition following Wednesday evening’s disappointing result against Daventry. Changes were made to the starting line-up, as Tony Joyce chose to rotate the squad again. The 5 subs from Wednesday were restored to the starting line up; Keith Williams returned at left back in place of Zack Reynolds, who was rested after reporting a slight knee strain, Liam Smyth returned to partner Greg Williams in the centre of midfield with Lee Grace on the left and Paul Edgeworth on the right. Top scorer Stacey Field replaced Dom Petrucci up front.

A quiet start to the match, it was the 9th minute before for the first chance was created. A Liam Smyth corner was met by Paul Edgeworth, with Greg Williams meeting his header with a volley from 12 yards which looked goalbound until it was blocked and cleared by the visiting defence. Four minutes later it was top scorer Stacey Field who was next to threaten the goal. Jason Blackett picked up a clearance from visiting keeper Jamie Norris and played the ball to Field 40 yards out; it was not a surprise to see him attempt a trademark long range lob, unfortunately though, the ball just cleared the cross bar with the keeper stranded. The away side came into the game more as the half developed; in the 23rd minute, ex-Duck Calvin Thomas, who posed a threat down the left wing throughout, threaded the ball through to Andy Crossley in a good position on the edge of the area, but his shot flew over the bar. 5 minutes later, the first real incident of the match rightly saw Ryan Lake shown a yellow card for punching the ball into the net from a Josh Andrews corner. Field had another opportunity to put the Ducks in front shortly after; a ball forward from Liam Smyth found Blackett, who fed his strike partner, however like Crossley before him, his shot was wild and sailed over the bar. In a game that was becoming quite scrappy, Egham were the next to threaten. A fine through ball saw winger Andrews clear on goal, but home stopper Sillitoe was quick off his line and blocked his shot. The second yellow card of the afternoon was awarded to Jason Blackett, apparently for not retreating the required 2 yards from an Egham throw in. The fact that full back Gailbraith chose to petulantly throw the ball straight at the Aylesbury striker probably made the ref’s mind up to award the card, when it could be argued that the full back could also have received one for ungentlemanly conduct!

The second half started in much the same vein as the first, although the Ducks did seem to have slightly more attacking intent. On a dry, bobbly pitch, playing passing football wasn’t easy, and the match became very stretched with a lot of long balls being played for the strikers to chase, with it has to be said, limited success. Straight from the kick off, Blackett played a long ball down the left channel which Lee Grace chased, but Norris was quickly off his line to tackle him outside the box and clear to safety. Ten minutes into the half, a long ball in saw Egham centre forward Reis Stanislaus adjudged onside; his shot was blocked but rebounded onto Jack Wood and flew just wide of the post for a corner. In the 72nd minute, Andrews crossed and Bill Morgan headed clear, but only as far as Joe Chandiram, who like his team mate earlier didn’t trouble Sillitoe, skying his shot over the bar. The Ducks saved their best chances until the final minutes. In the 88th minute, a fine break out of defence saw Shane Wood find Blackett in space down the right flank. His cross found Field free in the 6 yard box, but his header was superbly saved at point blank range by Norris. Two minutes later, another break saw Richard Armstrong find fellow substitute Ben Baines in midfield. He passed to Field, who returned the compliment, squaring the ball to an onrushing Blackett, who just failed to hit the target from short range. In truth, a draw was probably a fair result on the day, with both sides having chances to score, but neither having the composure in front of goal to merit a win.

Although the game ended goal-less, considering Egham’s recent form it should perhaps go down as a point gained rather than 2 points dropped. Worryingly with the return match at Daventry on Tuesday evening, with Steve Hatch limping off with a leg injury and both Jack Wood and Richard Armstrong picking up knocks in the second half, key players may not be available. The Ducks will want as many fit players as possible available on Tuesday evening, for what promises to be another testing evening against a team in top form.