Following Saturday's draw, few people gave Aylesbury any hope of progressing to the 3rd Round, as they needed to overcome freescoring Grays Athletic. However, overcome them is just what they did.
The first half was a scrappy affair, and not as fluent or open as Saturday's encounter. The first chance fell to Grays after eight minutes, as Martin Carthy broke free, but the former Billericay man fired way over the bar, somewhat selfishly.
A minute later Freddy Eastwood was played in by Leroy Griffiths, but his effort was comfortably taken by Kevin Davies. Eastwood then saw another shot blocked by the commanding Paul Covington soon after.
Aylesbury's sole chance of the half fell to Rory Hunter, after the young midfielder ran onto a Darren Lynch flick, and fired in an accurate near post shot, which was easily dealt with by Mel Capleton.
Another fantastic ball from Griffiths released Lee Williams, and his shot was palmed away by Davies, just above his head. On the half hour Grays came closest to breaking the deadlock as Freddy Eastwood broke down the right, but his cross-shot was bravely gathered by Davies, with Griffiths diving in but failing to connect.
Half-time came with the Ducks delighted not to have conceded a goal, under immense pressure from their hosts. For once the defence had looked a pillar of strength, and we now had something to build on in the second half.
Half-time: Grays 0-0 Aylesbury
The second half saw Aylesbury out of the blocks fastest, and doubling their shots on goal tally instantly. Danny Gray turned, and got away a left-footed shot, which was deflected and trickled through to Capleton.
Minutes later, and the Ducks produced their best move of the match. A break from defence saw some lovely passing on display, before Lewis Reid eventually got a shot in, which sadly didn't match the quality of the build-up, and went wide.
Danny Gray sustained an injury 20 minutes into the half, handing Josh Sozzo the opportunity to make his Ducks debut, going up front with Darren Lynch.
Aylesbury's efforts in the second half were excellent, but Grays were still a clear threat. They came close again after Davies came rushing out of his box to meet an oncoming player, and was beaten. The ball was cut back, and the Grays' eventual shot was well blocked by a defender.
A free-kick was fired in from the left side that required a smart save by Davies to tip it wide for a corner. The resulting corner was headed against the crossbar by Carthy, in another scare for Aylesbury.
More good play from Aylesbury saw Tom Ramasut increasingly involved in play, and his good work was providing some good chances. It was the midfielder himself who tried a volley, which was easily held by Capleton. Ramasut then played Alvin Bubb in down the left, and he ran into the box before firing a rising drive just over the bar.
At the other end Leroy Griffiths used his pace to break free of the defence, and with the goal gaping, went for the spectacular with a powerful effort, that sailed way over. It only needed a placed stroke home and it was game over.
Steve Robinson nearly scored a dramatic own-goal for Grays, as a ball over the top was toe-ended by the outstretching defender, and looped up over Capleton, but dropped just over the bar and into the roof of the net.
As they had threatened to, Aylesbury finally got their reward for the hard work of the second half, with four minutes of the game remaining. An excellent deep corner delivery from Ramasut wasn't dealt with by Grays, and the unmarked Lynch had no problem nodding the ball home. 1-0 Aylesbury
Try as they might, Grays barely threatened an equaliser in the closing moments, and it was the Ducks who came closest to scoring. Another great move saw Lynch knock the ball down for Reid, and his left-footed shot was well saved by Mel Capleton.
So it's the Ducks who go into the 3rd Round, with Hornchurch their opponents. And who's to say that they won't get into the 4th Round. If we can produce another performance of this quality then we have every chance.
