After second placed Bognor Regis visited on Tuesday, Aylesbury were next given the tough task of entertaining league leaders Carshalton Athletic. Chris Boothe made two changes, one enforced upon him. Danny Lampton came in from the reserve team to replace Isaac Rukundo in goal, and Danny Gordon returned from injury to replace Boothe in defence.

Not for the first time this season the Ducks were slow to get out of the blocks. And they were made to pay the price, as they found themselves a goal down after nine minutes. A mistake by Danny Gordon let Kunle Olusesi in, and he made no mistake in slotting the ball home with only Lampton to beat. 1-0 Carshalton

The heated conditions were making life hard for the Ducks, and they struggled to get into their pressing game. In fact, they were unable to get near the ball at all for much of the first half. A rare foray forward did see Ryan Wiffin hold the ball up to release Greg Williams, whose powerful drive was straight at the keeper.

With half an hour gone, and the Ducks making little impression, Carshalton were unlucky not to have doubled their lead. As the defence stood and watched, three different players were left free in the box to fire in shots, and fortunately each one was well blocked.

Greg Williams then had another long-shot before half time, and was unlucky as the ball smacked against the outside of the post, after being played in by Byron Bubb.

Half-time: Aylesbury 0-1 Carshalton

Warren Williams replaced Alvin Bubb for the second half, which started with Adam Campion and Kunle Olusesi booked for handbags.

A great counter attack saw Chris Bangura put free by Adam Campion, but there was no support in the area, and the striker was forced to try his luck from an angle. To be fair, his effort wasn't bad and flashed across the face of the goal.

Greg Williams then saw another effort wide, after having the ball laid to him from a free-kick. Aylesbury got lucky again, as Des Boateng missed a relatively easy header, although Lampton appeared to have the goal covered.

With the game seemingly heading for a 1-0 result, Carshalton were made to rue all the chances they'd missed. Aylesbury won a free-kick on the edge of the area. Daniel Mead stepped up and duly despatched the kick into the bottom corner of the net, with a superbly crafted effort. 1-1

There was still time for Carshalton to press forward for the winner, and some nervous moments for the Ducks followed. An attacker was put in by a great ball, and his fierce volley produced a wonderful point blank stop from Lampton. From the resulting corner Gary Elliott placed a header over the bar, as the home side clung on.

It was now a frenzied, end to end finale, as at one end, Warren Williams went on a run, but could only shoot over the bar, before 11 shot wide at the other. Finally, Greg Williams nearly won the game, as another of his long-range efforts was superbly tipped over the bar.

A 1-1 result is excellent for the Ducks, especially after it seemed destined for all the points to go back to Carshalton. The Robins will feel like they lost two points though, as they wasted a host of chances.