Aylesbury United suffered a disappointing 2-1 defeat at lowly Dunstable Town, thanks to a spirited fightback by the home side, although the home side were helped by some rather controversial decisions by the referee.
Garry Cook made his full debut for the club, replacing Danny Gray in attack, in an otherwise unchanged line-up to that which beat Gloucester City the week before.
Daniel French fired an effort wide in the first five minutes, after Mead's cross fell to him as the Ducks made the brighter start. They took the lead in the eleventh minute through Paul Edgeworth - his 13th goal of the season. The ball was played in from wide, dropping eventually to French who moved it on to Edgeworth who fired home. 1-0 Aylesbury
Dunstable found themselves penned back in the opening stages, and it could have been 2-0 when Cook ghosted in on the end of a long-ball, but his header lacked the power to beat Paul Taylor in goal. Edgeworth then tried an ambitious lob from distance which had Taylor backpeddling, and was clawed to safety.
Taylor again kept his side in the game, with a smart near-post block from Gavin Jaggard's fierce effort, after a trademark run from Colin Baker.
Unfortunately the good early work from Aylesbury was undone as they gifted Dunstable a way back into the match. Andrew Hodges was caught in posession by Craig Stallard, and there was no catching him as he sprinted away before squaring the ball for James Hatch to bury in the back of the net. 1-1
The last action of the first half saw Edgeworth again go close. After chasing down a long-ball he managed to win the ball from goalkeeper Taylor, only to find himself at a tight angle to goal, and with three defenders having recovered position it was always going to be tough steering the ball gome, and the danger was cleared away.
Half-time: Dunstable 1-1 Aylesbury
And so began the second half, and controversy immediately ensued. Edgeworth ran onto a great through ball, and running away from Paul Covington a goal seemed a certainty. Sadly the defender tripped and fell in the sand, for which a free-kick to Dunstable was awarded.
Minutes later the Ducks had a Greg Williams headed goal disallowed for offside, before their best move of the game. Neat link-up between Mead and French released the latter, but his shot was saved and then scrambled away by the Dunstable defence.
As the game passed by, there was little threat from the home side, yet the chances being spurned by Aylesbury were starting to become a concern. Jaggard became the latest guilty party, having found himself clean through he could only shoot low and straight at the on-rushing Taylor.
It was the same player five minutes afterwards who outpaced his defender, but could only shoot straight at Taylor having burst into the penalty area.
As the Ducks pushed forward in the closing stages, Dunstable suddenly had a chance out of nothing. A forward ran through but could only shoot wide, when he really should have done better, although Andrew Hodges did well to apply pressure having got back.
The big drama was to follow though, as Dunstable snatched an 83rd minute winner, yet it came on the back of an Aylesbury attack. Edgeworth again broke free, managed to round Taylor, but as he was about to pull the trigger was hauled off the ball by the desperate remaining defender. It seemed a definite penalty, but play was allowed to continue and Dunstable launched an effective counter-attack. The initial shot on goal was well saved by Jack Rashid - who had struggled to keep himself warm throughtout the match - but the rebound was sent home by James Hatch. To compound Aylesbury's misery, Edgeworth was booked for his alleged dive at the other end! 2-1 Dunstable
A shellshocked United struggled to raise themselves after the blow of the recovery by Dunstable, and could muster nothing by way of chances in the final moments of the game. The final whistle soon sounded, leaving the home side to party like they'd won the league.
