After stopping the rot of three straight defeats with a midweek county cup win, Aylesbury continued their return to form by securing their first league three points in over a month as they edged to victory at lowly St. Neots Town.

Manager Ben Williams labelled his side’s afternoon ‘winning ugly’ as the Ducks were superior for much of the game, but unable to turn that into a comfortable scoreline and suffered some hairy second half moments as a result.

Aylesbury named three changes from their Wednesday win with fit again Mark Riddick making a welcome return to midfield, Jordan Jenkins back in defence and David Manu recalled on the wing.

The home side threatened first after a fairly even opening start to the game, with Prince Mutswunguma’s flamboyant free kick run-up not matched by his execution as he sent the ball sailing out of the ground.

St. Neots should have taken the lead in the sixth minute; striker Alan Musoke - who had a brief spell with Aylesbury FC in 2016 - jinked his way past the defence before hanging up a cross which seemed to take Sam Gomarsall by surprise as the ball skimmed off his head wide.

The Ducks were then into their stride as Manu’s good work on the left saw him beat his marker and fire in a fierce low shot which was beaten away by James Philp, rebounding to Jamie Jellis who could only screw the rebound over the bar.

Five minutes later and Aylesbury had the lead. A fine attacking move saw the ball worked right across the pitch, and eventually to Harry Jones who in turn found Sonny French, and as he came inside his left footed effort from outside the box caught Philp cold as the ball entered the bottom corner past the motionless keeper. 1-0 Aylesbury

Jellis had a good chance to double the lead within two minutes when he latched on to a ball over the defence, but shot straight at the keeper the edge of the area.

It wasn’t until the 33rd minute that Aylesbury next threatened, as both teams struggled to make headway in the difficult conditions. Jake Bewley’s early cross was directed back across goal by Jellis towards Ken Feyi who was just beaten to the ball by the outstretched arm of Philp, with French putting the rebound wide.

It was to be the final clear chance of the half with Manu for Aylesbury and Mutswunguma both hitting weak efforts that were easily fielded by the respective goalkeepers as United kept their marginal lead as the half time whistle sounded.

Half-time: St. Neots 0-1 Aylesbury

Aylesbury started the second period brightly, and Manu came close to a second Ducks goal almost straight from the restart when he got the better of the defence but saw his low shot fly wide across goal.

But the dominance United had enjoyed in the first period was never evident as their hosts showed a marked improvement, and gained confidence from some productive spells on the ball.

Still, it was the Ducks who were close to scoring on 63 minutes when Ken Feyi retrieved a slightly overhit corner before cutting inside his man and having a low shot saved by Phil, who knew little about the rebound but was in the right place as the ball hit him from Manu’s follow up.

United’s defence was having to dig deep to keep the Saints at bay, but they were doing so successfully and limiting the hosts to long shots - with Sam Gomarsall and Lee Watkins both guilty of slashing wildly high and wide.

Seeking some fresh legs, Aylesbury opted for a double substitution with Ty Deacon and Ben Seaton replacing Ken Feyi and David Manu.

With his first touch Seaton was putting the ball wide after more brilliant wing play by Jellis to beat his man and cut back for the substitute who got it all wrong.

Musoke had St. Neots’ clearest sight of goal after 77 minutes when Aylesbury’s defence had struggled to get the ball away, but the striker placed his shot all the way across goal and wide.

Four minutes later and the Ducks had Jack Hopwood to thank for preserving their lead when Mutswunguma was played in and cut the ball back for a teammate whose low strike was well stopped by the leg of the keeper.

Ultimately, it was the hosts’ best moment as they sought only a second league point since August, but, once more, it was Aylesbury who fared better when Jellis’ stoppage time drive was tipped over by Philp on its way through.

Some intelligent time management in the closing seconds saw Aylesbury shut the game out and earn a ninth league clean sheet of the season and - more importantly - a return to winning ways.