Aylesbury began their Berks & Bucks campaign with a trip to Division One West outfit Bracknell Town, who had inflicted the Ducks' Southern League Cup exit with a 3-0 humbling the month before.
Kai Ridley made his first appearance since November having recovered from injury, and
Danny Gray was back in the side.
Bracknell saw plenty of the ball in the opening exchanges, but it was Aylesbury who had the first chance - Dean Powles heading wide a good chance from a corner. Gray then fired a shot straight at the goalkeeper having cut across his defender well.
Heavy home posession was turned into an early goal in the twelth minute though, as the game looked set to be going the same way as the last meeting between the teams. A misplaced defensive header found its way to a Bracknell player, and the ball was swiftly worked across to Gavin Taylor who finished smartly past Rashid. 1-0 Bracknell
Chances were few and far between as Aylesbury struggled to get to grips with the challenging playing surface, literally facing an uphill struggle in the first half. Dean Powles cracked an effort wide after a burst forward, and Gray fired over the bar after the ball fell to him from Gavin Jaggard's scuffed overhead effort.
The quality of Aylesbury's play slowly started to return towards the end of the first period, and after half an hour their patience paid off. Paul Edgeworth's cross-field pass was controlled by Daniel Mead, who played an excellent one-two with Jaggard and ran in to coolly finish for his first goal of the season. 1-1
Mead had a great chance to doule his evening's tally, arriving late at the far post but unable to keep his shot down after connecting with Edgeworth's cross. Mead then turned provider, crossing for Dean Powles who could only aim his header at Poyser in Bracknell's goal.
Bracknell had a good opportunity of their own to re-take the lead. A cross was nodded down by the lively Jason Williams, but Gavin Smith could only shoot wide when well placed.
Half-time: Bracknell 1-1 Aylesbury
The second half was less eventful, with the game falling into a lull after the restart. Bracknell were keeping the ball well again, and some nice football resulted in a shot going wide. At the other end Mead curled a free-kick narrowly wide of the post.
Chances were once again in short supply, and it took nearly twenty minutes for the next to arrive. Danny Gray got into a good position to receive a quick free-kick, and his first time shot rolled agonisingly across the face of goal with Leon Gutzmore unable to reach the ball.
Two minutes later the Ducks did snatch the lead. This time it was Gutzmore who fired a shot in early, after trapping the ball well, which beat Poyser on his near post for speed. 2-1 Aylesbury
There was little remaining in a game which quite literally ground to a halt. Colin Baker injected his own brand of pace into the match, and his brilliant late run almost brought about another goal, as both Gray and Gutzmore had efforts blocked and cleared off the line.
Jack Rashid denied Bracknell a late equaliser right at the death, as debutant Steve French fired in a powerful low strike. Rashid has made saves like that all season though, and it saw Aylesbury through with a 2-1 win.
