On the back of two holiday fixtures against teams in the top 5, the Ducks made the trip to Middlesex to face bottom of the league Hanwell Town. However, any thoughts of an easy match against lowly Town were soon dispelled, as the home team took the initiative straight from the start, dominating the early exchanges. In the 5th minute, Dean Worman crossed the ball from the left to Arafat Kabuye coming in from the right flank, however the winger couldn’t find the target, his curling shot going narrowly past the far post. The first chance for the Ducks came two minutes later, Stacey Field latching on to a bad back pass. Goalkeeper Keiran Jimmy was quick off his line though, and rushed Field, forcing his shot wide. The keeper was called into action again a couple of minutes later, after a good move down the left flank. Ben Baines broke down the left and fed Joey Acheampong, who played the ball into Field’s path, however his shot from the edge of the box was touched behind for a corner.

In the 20th minute, John Mullholland found his way into the referee’s notebook, picking up the game’s only yellow card for a late tackle 25 yards from goal in the centre of the park. Fortunately for the Ducks, Hanwell were unable to make the set piece count.

By this stage of the game, Hanwell looked comfortable in possession, stroking the ball around looking for a way through a well-marshalled defence. A combination of good defending by skipper Jack Wood and his colleagues, and a lack of an incisive final pass kept the score line goalless. This was to change on 33 minutes, when, against the run of play Ben Baines flicked on a long ball into the path of Joey Acheampong; he outpaced the defence with ease and calmly slotted the ball past Jimmy in the home goal. While the goal was welcomed by the travelling Ducks fans, it has to be said, based on the balance of play so far it was slightly harsh on the home side.

Six minutes before half time there was a scare for the visitors, as inspirational skipper Jack Wood went down injured following a challenge involving himself, Sam Slatter and the opposition’s Kabuye. He appeared to be in some trouble as he lay prostrate on the ground, and required attention from Ducks physio Vicky Baker for almost 5 minutes. Wood wasn’t to re-enter the field of play before half time, wisely taking his time to recover from what initially looked to be a worrying injury.

The second half commenced with the Ducks back to a full complement, Wood thankfully restored to fitness, and able to take his place in heart of the defence. The half time team talk enabled Tony Joyce to freshen up the team, and it appeared to be paying dividends, the Ducks looking far more positive. Just 4 minutes after the restart, Acheampong made a great run down the right wing. His cross was met by Marcus Sawyer 18 yards out, but unfortunately he didn’t have the composure to get his shot on target, slicing the shot wide. Six minutes later it was Lewis Hallford’s turn to beat his defender on the right, and cross the ball in to Acheampong, who missed the target under pressure from the keeper.

Soon after, it was the home side’s turn to go close. Kabuye, who had given Danny Jones a torrid time all afternoon, robbed the full back of the ball on the half way line and advanced towards the goal. He squared the ball to Munroe who saw his shot well saved by Sillitoe. Two minutes later, Baines was brought down on the edge of the box by a desperate tackle as he was about to advance on goal. Danny Jones stepped up to take the resulting free kick, but cleared the bar by some distance. As the game switched back to the other end, the tricky Kabuye beat two defenders and shot at goal, only for Sillitoe to pull off the save of the match, diverting the ball wide for a corner.

On 62 minutes, the Ducks came close to a second goal. An inswinging corner from Jones on the right flank was cleared as far as Hallford 25 yards out, but his shot was horribly sliced wide – until Edgeworth managed to divert it goal-wards, the ball clipping the bar and going behind. The second goal (and soon after the third!) was not far away. Edgeworth picked up the ball on the corner of the box and clipped it towards goal. As keeper Jimmy waved it wide, the ball curled into the top corner. A great goal or a fluke\' Only Edge can answer that question! Two minutes later, the game appeared to be made safe. Great work by Field on the left, cutting inside and having the vision to spot Hallford unmarked on the right. He rounded the keeper and shot towards the far post, where Acheampong slid in to make sure the ball went in and claim his second of the afternoon.

To Hanwell’s credit, they continued to look for that elusive goal. On 76 minutes they managed to find it, and what a goal it was! Kabuye again beat Jones on the left and crossed the ball to Worman who hit a first time half volley from 20 yards that gave Sillitoe no chance at all.

The final word was however to go to the Ducks. Deep into injury time, Acheampong made good ground down the right and found substitute Melford Simpson. He in turn laid the ball into the path of Tom Barnett, who was bursting into the box before he was fouled, just on the edge, according to referee Pater. It might as well have been a penalty, as Danny Jones stepped up and curled the ball low past the wall and into the far corner, giving the keeper no chance.

This was to prove to be the final action of the match, and a well deserved 3 points for the Ducks. It could be argued though that the final score was a little harsh on the home side who had played good passing football all game, without having either the cutting edge or perhaps the luck in front of goal their endeavours deserved, although some credit should go to the Ducks for a sound defensive display. Following the game, the Ducks moved back up to 8th in the league, ahead of next week’s home match against near neighbours Berkhamsted Town, a side who have a near identical record to the Ducks so far this season.

Thanks to Ian Pluck for this match report