• Matches
• Table

loading...

loading...

Two goals in the last two minutes condemned Aylesbury to conceding five in each of their last three competitive fixtures as they were well beaten at high flying Rothwell Town.

Aylesbury were boosted by the return of Ashley Harewood, choosing to play for the Ducks rather than kick his heels at his new club Northwood where he would have been cup tied for the afternoon.

He stepped into the strikers spot vacated by the injured Tyrone Taylor, and it was he who had the game's first opening when he brought the ball forward but dragged his finish wide after just thirty seconds.

The Bones had taken a while to get into their stride, and their first effort was nothing worth writing home about, a shot from Dom Hallows which trickled wide.

But from that point on it was more or less one way traffic. Daddy Moses did have an ambitious try from 30-yards after Montgomery's cross-field pass came his way, but that was all Aylesbury could muster as they were forced to fight hard just to contain Rothwell.

On ten minutes a cross in from Darby was just too high for the unmarked Jon Stevenson and he could only head over.

Moments later Sillitoe sprung into action for the first time, blocking from close range. Stevenson collected the rebound and was only denied by a fantastic saving challenge by Dan Hart.

Sillitoe produced another great save to deny Stevenson this time, after a free-kick was rolled to him and his low shot was heading for the bottom corner only for Aylesbury's number one to plunge to his left. The rebound was tapped in but ruled out for offside.

It seemed a matter of time before the home side took the lead with the pressure on the Ducks. increasing with every passing minute.

Byrne cracked a shot over the bar after a long throw was touched back to him by Stevenson, and Darby flicked another effort wide of the target.

It continued to be a combination of desperate defending, good goalkeeping, and wasteful finishing which was keeping the scoreline blank and on 20 minutes a fine defensive challenge from Reed denied Byrne from close range after he and Stevenson had again linked up well.

Hallows hit an effort straight at Sillitoe, then Stevenson was allowed room to chest control and volley the ball well wide.

Aylesbury's resistance was finally broken down after 28 minutes through another simply made attack. A long free-kick was headed down by Byrne to Darby who cracked a delightful first time effort which curled away from Sillitoe high into the net. 1-0 Rothwell

It had been coming, but immediately after the goal Aylesbury had their best attempt of the half when Oxley fed Miah who struck a firm shot which was well fielded by Tom Cross on his near post.

Normal service was soon resumed though and United switched off at a corner kick which was played short to Darby and he was given the freedom of Northamptonshire to pick his spot but still fired wide. He was at it again moments later, running across the defence but firing wide.

A mixture of Sillitoe's bravery and Ayodele's awareness saved Aylesbury from the Bones' next effort, a long ball not cut out by the defence, requiring Sillitoe to bravely head the ball clear. With the stricken keeper grounded the ball was lobbed goalwards, but Ayodele had stationed himself on the goal line to clear.

A free-kick was scrambled away five minutes before the break, and it looked like United had done enough to go in just the one-goal down at the interval. With only a goal in it there was always the slight possibility of salvaging something from the game.

Sadly, Rothwell had other ideas and duly scored a killer second in first half stoppage time. The Bones finally made one of their numerous corner kicks pay off as Robbie Maddox met a right sided delivery which took a nick of his marker and found the top corner. 2-0 Rothwell

Half-time: Rothwell 2-0 Aylesbury

The pattern of the game continued into the second half as Aylesbury just couldn't get a foothold in the game. Sam Maude shot wide across goal, the impressive Stevenson rattled the upright with a fine strike after Darby's head on and roles were then reversed as Stevenson played in Darby but he could only blaze over.

On chances alone, it could easily have been five or six to Rothwell already, but after their latest miss it was Aylesbury who produced some better play and produced a couple of dangerous crosses into the box with no end product.

Cross was tested on the hour mark when Harewood played the ball to Miah who fired a left-footed effort, but Cross was equal to it and turned the ball away. It was Aylesbury's best effort.

Stevenson missed another chance for Rothwell when, not for the first time, a Simon King pass was intercepted in a dangerous area, Stevenson running through but pulling his effort wide across goal.

On 65 minutes it was three as Aylesbury were caught by a classic counter-attack. Daddy Moses' ball in was quickly cleared up field and as the Ducks struggled to get back Byrne got away from the defence and slotted past Sillitoe. 3-0 Rothwell

United went close themselves with a rare moment of threat as Harewood used his strength to get on the end of a long ball, but his lobbed effort dropped just wide of the upright.

Both sides made a number of changes for the last fifteen minutes, and it was one of Aylesbury's substitutes Nick Bennion who got on the end of a deep free-kick, requiring Cross to tip the ball over the bar. The resulting corner was then cleared off the line from Joe Oxley's shot.

In the final two minutes Rothwell added a couple more goals to their tally to add extra shine to their result, and nobody could deny the Bones deserved their five-goal haul.

On 88 Stevenson at last claimed a goal for himself, receiving the ball in the box and turning Hart before crashing a shot joyfully into the net. 4-0 Rothwell

Stevenson got the better of Hart in the final minute, the ball coming back to Darby whose goalbound effort was turned into the net by Stevenson to round off a great afternoon for him. 5-0 Rothwell

The full-time whistle was accompanied by music from Looney Tunes which was particularly apt considering some of Aylesbury's defending at times this season, although the result on this game was more down to Rothwell's far superior experience at this level.