Salisbury City eased to a comfortable win at Buckingham Road, as the probable league champions looked to return to form after their recent blip. The win moved them back to 2nd in the table, just three points behind Bath City but with two games in hand.
There was a evident difference in confidence between the two sides throughout, Salisbury capable of playing simple football with confidence, which left the Ducks second best for most of the game.
The visitors were guilty of wasting a host of chances during the game, with the biggest culprit Alexander Haddow. It was he who had the first effort, racing clear of a static Aylesbury backline, but when faced with Reece Kirk maybe he had too much time to consider his options, and having rounded the keeper the ball ran away at the crucial moment.
Fellow striker Paul Sales had a shot deflected, before he opened his side's account on 19 minutes. The ball evaded United's defence, and Sales was on hand to poke the ball home from outside the area, as Aylesbury could only watch the ball trickle over the line. 1-0 Salisbury
Salisbury had another two good chances before the break, Alex Wilde unleashing a strong half-volley which was well saved by Reece Kirk. Haddow again found himself one-on-one with Kirk, but the Aylesbury stopper won the duel and saved.
Half-time: Aylesbury 0-1 Salisbury
Neil Trebble made two half-time changes, bringing Matt Butler into the midfield for Kyle Kilmartin and switching Dean Powles to right-back. Bilal Hassan also came on in place of Kieron Deane.
Yet within four minutes of the restart Salisbury had doubled their lead. A brief lost of concentration in the Ducks rearguard allowed Wilde to play a short pass inside to Haddow, who was unmarked and tapped in from 5-yards.2-0 Salisbury
Minutes later the home side fashioned their first effort of the game. Nick Jackson fired a shot in from the right which was saved, the ball dropped to Leon Gutzmore but unfortunately he couldn't adjust quickly enough and his left-footed effort blazed high over the bar.
At the other end Thomas Widdrington fired well over with a volley. Aylesbury then had another good chance, firstly Mark Bridge turning the ball goalwards from a corner only to see Kevin Sawyer save with his feet. The ball looped up to Gutzmore who planted his header wide of the target.
This was the best spell of the game for Aylesbury, as they looked to put some concerted pressure on the Salisbury goal. Tony Joyce, back for his third spell at the club, hit a free-kick straight at Sawyer. Jackson then tried his luck from a set-piece on the opposite flank, this time forcing Sawyer into an impressive save to tip the ball over.
The free-kicks flanked another incisive break away by Salisbury, Haddow again using his pace to flee the chasing pack of Aylesbury defenders, but placed his effort well over the bar.
Haddow was at it again, two minutes after Jackson's free-kick. His pace was an obvious threat, but again the home side were left flailing. This time he opted to try a lob, which had Reece Kirk beaten but dropped onto the roof of the net.
With two minutes remaining Salisbury capped their efficient display with a third goal. With no right-back on the pitch following Powles' replacement by Pringle, Wilde broke down Salisbury's left, crossed low and hard for Sales to easily finish. 3-0 Salisbury
The action wasn't completely finished though, with the Ducks to have last say in matters. Some pinball in the visitors area finally resulted in Richard Pringle crashing the ball home for his first Aylesbury goal. 3-1 Salisbury
United could even have pulled a second back in the dying seconds, as they produced their best move of the match. Jackson finished things off by crossing a delightful ball from the left, which Mark Bridge was inches away from reaching at the far-post.
Realistically though it was an easy, and not unexpected, win for Salisbury City. Aylesbury will look to the positives though, and hope to take them forward into Saturday's six-pointer with Gloucester City.
