Aylesbury kept up their recent good form - which now shows just one defeat in nine games – by beating league strugglers Holmer Green 5-3 after a fascinating rollercoaster encounter.
Warren Garcia returned to the squad after injury, but Tony Joyce kept faith with the side that had comfortably seen off Broxbourne Borough in midweek.
It took less than two minutes for the opener to arrive. Steve Nott-Macaire made a mess of a defensive header, gifting the ball straight to Joey Acheampong on the left wing. He galloped to the byeline before squaring for Stacey Field who did well to squeeze the ball in at the near post. 1-0 Aylesbury
Against the division’s second-bottom side, many expected the floodgates to open but that wasn’t to be the case, although it took a tremendous save from Sam Bunting to deny an Aylesbury second as he tipped Daniel Jones’ curling free-kick around the post.
The resulting corner kick was very nearly turned in by Ben Baines, who won another corner in the process, from which Paul Edgeworth fired well over on his wrong foot.
Just prior to the quarter hour mark Holmer Green netted a fortuitous equaliser. Left back Chris Pape got double lucky as the ball kindly ricocheted as he moved infield, getting him past two Aylesbury men. But then, trying to play the ball forward from his position near the touchline, 5-yards into the Ducks half, the ball sailed high, over the head of Sillitoe, and into the top corner. 1-1
Three minutes later and a shellshocked Aylesbury found themselves trailing. A fine curled pass from right-back Sam Pettyfer cut out the entire defence and found a suspiciously offside-looking Dean Allen who lobbed the stranded Sillitoe with aplomb. 2-1 Holmer Green
United were left reeling and struggled for a while to reassert their authority on proceedings. Former Aylesbury man Tom Alabaster was perhaps fortunate to receive nothing from the referee having appeared to kick out at Acheampong when on the ground.
Holmer Green had the ball in the net again on the half hour mark, but the linesman’s flag saved the day for Aylesbury on that occasion, who then quickly mounted an attack of their own when Baines flicked on a free-kick for Field who volleyed goalwards only to be thwarted by another great save by Bunting.
It counted for little when seconds later Jones’ subsequent corner kick was met with a firm header into the net by John Mulholland to level the match. 2-2
Four minutes from the interval the game was turned on its head again as the Ducks edged back in front. Despite visiting pleas for a foul, Field played the ball to Acheampong who rolled Alabaster with ease before placing a shot coolly beyond Bunting and into the net. 3-2 Aylesbury
Things then took an even better turn as Nott-Macaire was shown a second yellow card for his second foul of the afternoon, having just clipped Tom Barnett although general consensus deemed the decision harsh.
Jones went close again with the free-kick which whistled just past the upright, before Shed wriggled his way into the penalty box at the other end and fired a low shot which Sillitoe had to save with his legs.
Half-time: Aylesbury 3-2 Holmer Green
After a quiet start to the second half, Aylesbury extended their lead after 53 minutes with another well crafted goal. Joe Donaldson broke from defence to drive a cross into the box which Field met with a well directed header for his second of the afternoon. 4-2 Aylesbury
That should have meant curtains for the visitors, but the plucky south Bucks outfit simply refused to lie down.
Aylesbury had further efforts to score, but were mostly restricted to long range shots as Slatter and Baines were unable to really test Bunting, Baines doing a bit better with a rising drive from inside the box which went over the bar.
Holmer Green proved they were far from finished with a third goal to bring themselves back into contention after 69 minutes. Another ball over the top caught United sleeping, but the fierce finish from ex-Duck Shed was high class and gave Sillitoe no chance. 3-4
Almost immediately Bunting was called upon to make a low, clawing save to deny Edgeworth at close range before neither Field nor Barnett could hit the target with long shots.
Aylesbury seemed intent on living dangerously, and faced a couple of nervy moments, notably when the ball broke for Chris Pape on the edge of the box who fired over, and then a lofted ball to the back post was met by Allen whose downward header bounced and had to be tipped over by Sillitoe. The corner was met by Pape who headed narrowly wide.
As the game entered its final minute United were gifted the chance to finally put proceedings out of the visitors’ reach when Acheampong burst into the box before being fouled by Alabaster. Daniel Jones stepped up and made no mistake with a convincing penalty into the bottom right corner. 5-3 Aylesbury
With the points at last secured it wasn’t long before full time sounded, the Ducks pleased to have picked up their second 3-point haul in three days, but they were pushed all the way by their spirited county neighbours.
