After a long wait, the Ducks finally kicked off their competitive season with an FA Cup Preliminary Round tie at home to Hellenic League Division One opposition, local club Long Crendon. The lure of the FA Cup was plain to see on a sunny afternoon, with a large attendance arriving to see the match.

After a pre-season of mixed results, which also saw a number of minor injuries incurred by the squad, manager Ben Williams was only able to name a 15 man match day squad, however the starting XI had a strong look, although wearing squad numbers as they will be for the season due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Looking for a fast start, the Ducks took the game to their opposition, with Max Hercules prominent on the left wing. He teased Ben Sykes, before pushing the ball past him towards the penalty area, before being fouled by the defender. Ollie Hogg stepped up to deliver a great cross into the 6-yard box, where newly crowned Supporter’s Players of The Year, Mark Riddick celebrated by heading home. 1-0 Aylesbury

Three minutes after the goal, a delicious diagonal ball from Jordan Jenkins found Ollie Hogg, on the left, who pulled the ball back to Hercules, who saw his first time shot blocked.

In the 20th minute, a short corner routine involving Hogg and Hercules was initially cleared, but returned to Hogg on the left; his cross was dummied by Jack Wood, but Juwon Akintunde could only fire his shot over the bar from 6 yards. Shortly afterwards a Hercules cross from the left was cleared as far as Sonny French, but his shot from 12 yards was well saved to his left by Ben Taunton.

It’s fair to say that all the attacking intent was coming from the home side at this stage, although with just a one goal lead, a second was needed to reinforce their superiority. This was emphasised when the visitors came close to equalising just past the half hour. A lapse in concentration from Anthony Ball saw him play a poor back pass which was intercepted by Harry Pettingell, who lobbed Jack Hopwood, only to see the ball hit both cross bar and far post before bouncing away to safety.

Another sloppy pass, this time from Hercules saw the ball fall to Oli Lethbridge, this time Hopwood came to the rescue, making a brave save as the striker advanced on goal.

Perhaps stung by these mistakes, the Ducks did extend their lead in the 38th minute. It was another defensive error that created the goal, with Dino Bonwick under hitting a back pass, which was pounced on by Hogg, who advanced in the penalty area and drilled a shot underneath the diving Taunton and into the net. 2-0 Aylesbury

Half-time: Aylesbury 2-0 Long Crendon

The second half began as the first had ended, with the Ducks dominating possession, but thwarted by a combination of dogged defending by the visitors and poor finishing. Seven minutes after the restart, Riddick floated a pass over the head of Sykes into the path of Hercules, who played a first time cross to Akintunde, but his shot from 6 yards was narrowly wide of the far post.

Six minutes later, it was the influential Hercules who came close to scoring; his corner was cleared as far as French, who passed back to Hercules; he cut inside his defender and fired a powerful shot which was well saved by Taunton.

In the 71st minute, a long ball over the Ducks defence saw substitute James Hawkes reach the ball ahead of Wood and attempted to lob the onrushing Hopwood. The keeper instinctively tried to block the ball, but was adjudged to have handled outside his penalty area, receiving a red card from referee Luke Scott for denying a goal scoring opportunity.

After some confusion about the substitution, James Weatherill was eventually introduced for his Ducks debut, with Lee Stobbs the player sacrificed. Weatherill was straight into the action, saving Hawkes’ powerful free kick and claiming it at the second attempt.

With the Ducks down to 10 men, the shape of the team changed slightly, but they remained in control of the visitors, many of whom were understandably tiring from their efforts on a very warm day.

It was indeed the Ducks who had the remainder of the goal opportunities as the game drew to a close. With 9 minutes left on the clock, Hogg took a corner from the left, which was punched clear by Taunton, only as far as Hercules. He collected the ball and ran at the defence and fired a shot which was just wide of the near post.

Three minutes later Bewley played a fine diagonal towards French wide on the right; Substitute Tom White misjudged the bounce of the ball, allowing French a run in on goal, but his shot towards the near post was well saved.

A needlessly conceded corner one minute from the end of the 90 minutes led to the final goal of the game. Hercules took the corner kick towards Wood, who saw the ball bounce off his planted foot and rather fortuitously creep inside the far post. 3-0 Aylesbury

That was to be the end of the action, seeing the Ducks through with a comfortable victory, and awaiting the draw for the 1st Qualifying Round on Monday afternoon. Long Crendon should take heart from a dogged performance, but will reflect on a couple of defensive errors which proved vital to the final score. We wish them well for the season ahead.