Aylesbury met struggling Cirencester Town at Buckingham Road, in a match which turned out to be as dreary as the weather was. After Saturday's game had been abandoned due to fog, the ever worsening conditions served as a worry for the limited fans in attendance.
Danny Nicholls was forced to make two changes to the team which started at Bath, Paul Edgeworth and Roni Joe both missing, replaced by Dean Powles and the returning Leon Gordon. New signing Matt Butler took a seat on the bench having made the switch from Aylesbury Vale FC.
Aylesbury started brightly, and Scott McCafferty unleashed a shot after eight minutes, which was well dealt with by veteran goalkeeper Steve Book.
He was rather more unconvincing in dealing with a right-wing corner ten minutes later, flapping at the ball which eventually fell to Matt Hayward, but his thumping half-volley was deflected wide by a desperate defender.
United made the most of a negative approach from Cirencester by seeing plenty of the ball, but they were lacking inspiration going forwards without some of their bigger names on the pitch.
It took a full twenty minutes before the next effort, although it was the best chance of the first half. A lofted cross from Matt Hayward was nodded down by Gavin Jaggard, and flashed over by the arriving McCafferty.
Cirencester hit back with a couple of efforts before the interval, both from midfielder Kevin Halliday. The first was a shot outside the area which went wide of the post, the second a free-kick which bounced up into the arms of a grateful Jack Rashid.
Half-time: Aylesbury 0-0 Cirencester
Aylesbury looked to impose themselves early in the second half as Jaggard drilled a shot across the face of goal, which only required a touch to send it into the net. Gordon came forward soon afterwards, but his low shot didn't threaten Book's goal.
The Ducks looked to inject some creativity into their side with the introduction of Jonathan Bewers for Powles, but there was little improvement. More eventful was the worsening of visibility as the fog continued to roll in.
Further changes came for Aylesbury, as Goss replaced Lazarus and Butler came on for McCafferty.
United's task was made even harder with fifteen minutes remaining when Gavin Jaggard was shown two yellow cards within two minutes. The first was rather harsh, the first booking of the game. The second was probably deserved when he retaliated to a challenge from Gary Horgan, who was also shown a yellow card.
But the dismissal only seemed to boost United. Manager Nicholls gambled by throwing Rob Gould up front, but the game looked set for a stalemate.
Then in the 83rd minute it was once again youngster Goss who grabbed the headlines. Racing on to a through ball he beat Book to the chase and sublimely lofted the ball over the stranded goalie and into the net for his first senior goal. 1-0 Aylesbury
Although Cirencester attempted to rally in the closing stages, there was a lack of togetherness in their play, something that Aylesbury have had all season: spirit. Even in the face of true adversity the team dug deep and got the winner, and secured victory.
