On the back of a 4 game losing streak, the Ducks entertained Thamesmead Town in the Preliminary round of the FA Trophy, looking for a confidence building win. Following Tuesday night’s defeat at neighbours Chesham, manager Tony Joyce made a number of changes to the line up. Skipper Jack Wood moved forward to partner Steve Hatch in the centre of midfield, with Bill Morgan returning at centre back as the Ducks reverted to a more familiar 4-4-2 formation. Also returning to the starting line-up were Paul Edgeworth and Jason Blackett, paired together up front as Greg Williams dropped out of the starting XI with Stacey Field and Liam Smyth unavailable.

It was the visitors who started the stronger, with their pacy front two causing problems for the home defence from the off. In the 5th minute, a long ball into the right hand channel saw Rowan Liburd outpace Bill Morgan, but lacked composure as he lashed a shot high over the home goal.

Three minutes later came a moment of controversy, as Steve Hatch chased a through ball from Jake Bewley. Visiting keeper Rob Budd came out of his area and was adjudged to have handled the ball, preventing Hatch advancing into the penalty area. Despite protesting his innocence, referee Hart brandished the yellow card, when many in the crowd were baying for the red one.

The match continued with the visitors dominating for most of the first 30 minutes. Liburd in particular being a thorn in the side of the home defence. In the 12th minute, he beat Ryan Freshwater down the right flank, and crossed the ball. Fortunately for the Ducks, Lee Grace was covering back and cleared for a corner. From the resulting kick, the ball was half cleared as far as Kamara on the edge of the box. His low drive was saved at the base of the near post by Sillitoe.

The next chance fell to the Ducks, with a long free kick from Bill Morgan finding Jack Wood unmarked at the far post. His cushioned header across goal found Paul Edgeworth, but he couldn’t muster a firm attempt on goal.

The first goal followed soon after in the 21st minute, as Steve Hatch was penalised for a high boot on the half way line. A long free kick from visiting skipper Ashley Probets found Robert Carter free 12 yards out, his header giving Sillitoe no chance. It has to be said that however disappointing it was to concede, it wasn’t against the run of play, the visitors being worth their lead. 1-0 Thamesmead

What was promising to be an unhappy afternoon for the Ducks was turned around with 2 goals in 5 minutes.

First, in the 31st minute, a long corner from Jesse Waites found Bill Morgan unmarked at the far post. His header across goal was met firmly by skipper Jack Wood and guided into the net. 1-1

Shortly afterwards, Hatch embarked on a mazy run from halfway, and attempted a shot from the edge of the box. A deflection took it into the path of Jason Blackett whose slightly mishit attempt on goal eluded Budd, giving the Ducks a lead that minutes earlier had seemed unlikely. 2-1 Aylesbury

Just 3 minutes later, and the same pair combined again, as another Hatch shot rebounded kindly to Blackett, but this time Budd got down sharply at his near post to save.

Three minutes into the second half, the Ducks had a lucky escape, as Shane Wood and Carter collided 25 yards out challenging for the ball. It fell to Liburd just outside the box, but he held his head in his hands as his powerful shot gave Sillitoe no chance, but rebounded off the base of the post and away to safety. Wood was booked for his protest to the referee afterwards, clearly incensed at what he perceived to have been a foul on him by Carter in the build up.

In a complete turnaround to the first half, the second half was dominated by the home team, albeit with little end product to show for it. Perhaps the turning point of the match came in the 64th minute. Blackett was fouled by Michael Azayia 30 yards from goal. Edgeworth stepped up to take a superb free kick, which had Budd well beaten, but unfortunately crashed back into play off the post.

However it was the away team who scored next. Jesse Waites lost out in a 50/50 challenge with Michael Spencer on the half way line. He drove forward and crossed to debutant Liburd, who made no mistake placing the ball past Sillitoe to level the scores. 2-2

Just as the Ducks supporter’s thoughts were turning to a possible long journey round the M25 on Tuesday evening for a replay, Thamesmead took the game away from them. Two minutes after their second goal, Carter scored again to give his side the lead once more. Similar to the Ducks first goal, Carter was unmarked in the 6 yard box from a corner, his header giving Sillitoe no chance. 3-2 Thamesmead

It is fair to say that the 3rd goal was hard to take, and probably harsh on the Ducks who had fought hard throughout. Their last opportunities came deep into added on time. Substitute Joey Acheampong did very well to get to the byline and crossed hard and low to Shaun Owens in the 6 yard box. He held his head in disbelief as Budd pulled off a remarkable save to preserve the lead. From the resulting corner, home keeper Sillitoe went up to try and salvage the draw, but it wasn’t to be.

As in the FA Cup earlier this year, the Ducks fell at the first hurdle, losing any chance of valuable prize money from the game. More worrying though is that this defeat is the 5th in succession, and with tough league matches coming up, an upturn in fortunes is desperately needed. Certainly Manager Tony Joyce will have plenty to think about before Uxbridge visit next Saturday.