Aylesbury?s last hope of silverware evaporated for another season as they were beaten 2-1 by Wantage Town in the Berks & Bucks Senior Trophy Quarter Final.
Tony Joyce welcomed back Lea Coulter to the fold in place of Craig Townsend who was struggling with a back injury, and Justin Gordon replaced Will Smith at left back.
It was Coulter who threatened first as United made a strong start to the game when he showed a great turn of pace to beat Sean Webb down the left, before seeing his low cross turned behind by a defender.
The resulting corner kick eventually fell to Coulter whose shot was blocked in the area, but the ball dropped to Mulholland who drilled a low shot into the net. 1-0 Aylesbury
Wantage visited Bell Close in third place in the Hellenic League, and it was quickly apparent they meant business as they demonstrated their credentials with good possession football throughout the first half.
The visitors had their first effort on goal two minutes later when Danny Keen tried a shot from 25-yards which was well held by the diving Sillitoe.
Although the Alfredians were seeing plenty of the ball, Aylesbury were defending really well and preventing their opponents creating much in the way of chances.
Instead, Edgeworth went close for United with a reverse volley from Garcia?s cross-field pass, although he was subsequently flagged for offside. Just before the half hour mark Daniel Jones went close with an outrageously good 30-yard curling free-kick which grazed the crossbar after a foul on Coulter.
Keen was looking the most likely to score if the visitors were to find an equaliser, as he first fired a rebound over after a half-cleared free-kick fell to him, then saw a shot excellently blocked by Mulholland.
Aylesbury had to defend hard for the remaining time before the interval and Mulholland was on hand again to mop up after Toms had misjudged the flight of the ball, before another block on the stroke of half time denied Matt Biddle after he had been set up by ex-Duck Stuart Cattell following a short corner.
Half-time: Aylesbury 1-0 Wantage
Wantage came out flying for the second half and the signs looked ominous for Aylesbury as within thirty seconds Sillitoe was called into action ? smothering Gavin Jones? shot at the near post after he had been picked out by Langford?s raking pass.
Four minutes later and Aylesbury had Jack Wood to thank for preserving their lead as the youngster got back to make a saving challenge just as Keen was setting himself after Sillitoe?s punch after a long clearance from Tucker was allowed to come all the way through.
There was some brief respite for the Ducks as Coulter produced a sharp turn and shot which was eventually fielded by Tucker after some brief ball juggling.
But the tide hadn?t turned and on 53 minutes Wantage deservedly equalised. Aylesbury were too slow to react to a quickly taken free-kick deep in the visitors? own half, and in the blink of an eye the ball was in the back of the net. Despite Sillitoe?s best efforts in making a fine save to deny Clayton, the ball rebounded for Langford to follow up and score. 1-1
Aylesbury nearly came straight back and scored as Garcia caught a long range effort nicely but couldn?t direct it past Tucker.
Matt Biddle should have scored for Wantage when he headed a free-kick wide at the far post, and Gavin Jones saw another effort tipped wide as United continued their frustrating habit of conceding unnecessary free-kicks.
It continued to be one way traffic and Ellis Langford placed a shot over the bar from outside the box before Clayton saw a shot deflected wide off Toms.
But against the run of play Aylesbury had the best of the chances when good linkup between Gordon and Jones ended with the latter whipping in a near post cross which was just turned wide by Coulter.
The pressure from the visitors had to tell eventually though, but the winner came in the cruellest of circumstances. Mulholland, who had been exceptional throughout, had a horrible moment when he weakly tried to pass back to Sillitoe. The ball was snapped up by Langford who rolled to his strike partner Clayton who had to simple task of rolling home. 2-1 Wantage
Wantage went close again ten minutes from time with a miss-hit Clayton free-kick which whipped in and had to be tipped over by Sillitoe.
In the final minutes Aylesbury launched a brief assault on the visitors? goal and a number of dangerous crosses and corner kicks came in as the seconds ticked by, but there was no way through the Aldredians? defence.
The last chance of the game came from a corner kick which was headed over by a combination of Coulter and Mulholland, and that was that for Aylesbury?s cup dreams for another season.
