1 | ||
2 | ||
3 | ||
4 | 15, 67m | |
5 | ||
6 | ||
7 | 14, 73m | |
8 | ||
9 | ||
10 | ||
11 | 16, 84m | |
BENCH | ||
---|---|---|
12 | ||
14 | 7, 73m | |
15 | 4, 67m | |
16 | 11, 84m | |
17 | ||
MANAGEMENT | ||
M |
United showed two changes from their weekend draw at Bishops Cleeve ? reserve team defender Jason Costello handed his full debut at right-back as Nathan Liburd covered for the suspended Carl Kavanagh in the middle, and James Faulkner started up front.
Both sides made bright starts and Marlow could have taken the lead in the opening seconds when Adam Dickens skimmed the bar with a free kick.
A confident looking Faulkner then cut inside and had a pop at goal, but he saw his effort fly wide of the target.
The Ducks made the best of their good start and went ahead on the quarter hour mark. A free-kick was fired in to the far post, headed back across goal and then into the net by the waiting Nathan Graham. 1-0 Aylesbury
Marlow had their keeper MacTaggart to thank for keeping them in the game five minutes later. Faulkner was played through and used his pace to go one-on-one with the keeper, but MacTaggart was off his line smartly to save low down.
Instead of crumbling the Blues dug deep and dragged themselves back into the game, duly levelling the scores with half an hour gone. A ball in from the left was met with an acrobatic volley by Aaron Couch and Vincent had no chance. 1-1
Aylesbury weren't to be deterred though and quickly set about trying to reinstate their lead. Graham did superbly to retrieve the ball in the right flank and find Ben Gallant, who had a fierce effort well saved.
Faulkner tried his luck again from range, this time having beaten two men to make space, but he dragged his effort wide of goal.
The pressure was on in the run up to half time, and MacTaggard had to be alert again to parry away a dangerous cross before Graham's 15th goal of the season gave the Ducks a half-time lead. Faulkner played the pass, and Graham bundled the ball past the keeper but fell to the ground in the process, but still managed to poke the ball home. 2-1 Aylesbury
Half-time: Aylesbury 2-1 Marlow
An early goal was exactly what Aylesbury would have wanted to kill the game off, and that's exactly what they got. Mealor got forward to play the ball across the area and Faulkner was on hand to calmly finish. 3-1 Aylesbury
The home side were cruising at this point and looking very assured. Graham had a chance for his hat-trick having been played in, but the angle was against him and he could only lift his shot over the bar.
But once again Marlow came back into the game as the half wore on, and the warning signs were there that they still posed a threat when a corner kick was allowed to come all the way into the area. In the scramble the ball came close to crossing the line, but despite their strong protests, nothing was awarded to the visitors.
Five minutes later and the Blues did have the ball in the net, a goal similar to Aylesbury's third. United were caught cold at the back, and a low ball across the box came all the way to Jack Smilie who crashed a shot home. 3-2 Aylesbury
For a spell Marlow attempted to continue their fightback and claim an equaliser as they kept possession and forced Aylesbury back, although a genuine attacking threat rarely materialised.
In the end the game fizzled out and the closing ten minutes or so were rather uneventful as both sides ran out of steam.
Marlow felt hard done by at the end after a string of decisions had gone against them during the match, particularly whether the ball had crossed the line at a second half corner, and they made their feelings known to Mr James at the final whistle, but it was a match well won by the Ducks who now face Chesham in the quarter-final.