Aylesbury lost out in their first home Saturday league game of the campaign, as they fell to a 2-1 defeat against an unpredictable Harefield side who had beaten top side Leverstock Green and lost to bottom side Hatfield Town in the last ten days.

The Ducks started well, looking sharp in the early stages, and forced a couple of corners inside the first three minutes, the second of which was levered down by Mulholland for Baines who couldn’t generate enough power in his acrobatic effort.

Baines then had a fantastic chance when he was released by Garcia after a slick passing move, but his finish didn’t have enough on it to beat Goode in the visitors’ goal.

Another opening soon arrived for his strike partner – Stacey Field – when he latched onto incisive pass, but tried a spectacular first time shot when he had time to bring the ball down and produce a more routine finish, and the chance was wasted.

Acheampong and Baines both had half chances, and Garcia pulled a long shot just wide of the target, but for whatever reason, Aylesbury weren’t able to keep their early momentum going as they allowed their visitors to come back into the match.

A break down the right from Jamie Arthur – the Hares’ biggest threat throughout – saw his low ball into the box hurriedly cleared behind by Mulholland, and four minutes later he had a better chance when the Ducks couldn’t get the ball away but could only produce a weak finish which he sliced out for a throw in on the far side.

Aylesbury’s performance had well degenerated by now, and once again they failed to clear their lines allowing Dan Picknell a shot, but his effort curled away from the goal.

Three minutes later it was 1-0 to the visitors. A long ball forward tempted Sillitoe off his line, but his clearance was charged down by Gomez who then had the simple task of running on and slotting into the empty net. 1-0 Harefield

Had it been against the run of play it might have been a surprise, but the Ducks just weren’t at the races at this point and the worrying nature of their showing continued in the run up until half time.

Another shot from Arthur was blocked in the area, and Mangan fired over from close range when he should have done better, as Harefield had the opportunity to extend their lead.

At the other end, it looked like Field would bring the Ducks back on level terms when he was slipped in by Baines but he dallied getting his shot away and the ball ran through for Goode.

Half-time: Aylesbury 0-1 Harefield

Aylesbury fans were hopeful that their side would have regrouped at the interval and come out looking something like the side of Wednesday’s all action draw with Dunstable Town, yet it remained hard to believe that the side showed no changes in personnel from that match as they looked a different team.

David King did have a good early effort when he connected well with an overhead kick from Mulholland’s flick on, but unfortunately it was straight at the keeper.

It was about as close as Aylesbury were to come, as they wasted what chances they did get and weren’t good enough with their set pieces to truly threaten Harefield.

Barnett thundered a shot over the bar, as did his midfield colleague Garcia with a well placed direct free-kick. Jack Wood – by far the green’s best player – then went close when he connected with Hallford’s miss-hit corner kick but saw his shot blocked en route to goal.

The Ducks made a relatively early substitution, replacing Acheampong with Simpson, and the substitute was straight into the thick of the action as he tricked his way past a defender but shot straight at Goode.

Two ambitious efforts from Field – one lob falling just over and one straight the keeper – as Aylesbury tried to keep up the pressure.

At the midway point of the half Garcia became the next name to miss a gilt-edged opportunity when, in a rare stroke of fortune, the ball ran through off a defender for him, but with the whole goal to aim at he went for power and blazed over from 8-yards.

A rare Harefield move into the Aylesbury half then resulted in Gomez having a strong appeal for a penalty turned away by Mr Stevens, a man of interesting decisions throughout the afternoon. The Ducks countered quickly and Simpson found himself clean through only to witness his effort cleared off the line at the last second by Crane.

As Aylesbury continued to push forward, the visitors were a more noticeable threat on the counter attack, with the pacey Arthur causing plenty of problems on the wing. His run provided a cut back for Gomez who was well placed but could only air kick at the ball. Three minutes later and a near carbon copy move gave the ball to Cowans this time, but he blasted it out of the ground.

As the game entered its final ten minutes, Aylesbury wasted another well placed free-kick when Edgeworth fired it straight into the wall, and moments later the ball dropped to Simpson who extended Aylesbury’s diabolical shooting record in the game by firing over on the volley.

In the 87th minute Harefield scored the breakaway goal they had been threatening when Gomez picked out Arthur who sprang the offside trap, skipped around Sillitoe and rolled in a deserved goal. 2-0 Harefield

The Ducks had other ideas though, and barely two minutes later they finally found the net themselves. A right sided corner kick was met by Simpson, and diverted into the net by Edgeworth, to reduce the arrears. 1-2

There was still time for heightened drama when Simpson was hauled down trying to get on the end of a cross deep in stoppage time, the referee having no hesitation in pointing the spot. Curiously, centre back Mulholland stepped up to strike it, and strike it he did – his venomous shot thundering back off the crossbar.

It condemned Aylesbury to the loss and although it really wasn’t their day luck wise, it was a below par performance coupled with some horrendous misses and generally poor finishing that lead to the deserved defeat.