Stacey Field continued his incredible scoring streak, but it proved only to be late consolation as Aylesbury were well beaten by an impressive Hadley at Bell Close.
It meant a seventh straight win for the Ducks wasn’t to be as they fell behind to two Dom Petrucci strikes against one of the best footballing sides faced this season, whose lowly league position certainly belied their quality.
Tony Joyce had Joey Acheampong back in the squad, and both he and Paul Edgeworth returned to the starting line-up at the expense of Marcus Sawyer and Russell Clark.
After a quiet first ten minutes, Hadley threatened first when the referee harshly deemed Joe Donaldson’s wayward ball back to Jack Sillitoe as a pass back and awarded an indirect free-kick in the box, which predictably was smashed into the mass of bodies before being cleared.
Aylesbury’s first of what were to prove rare attempts on goal came with twelve minutes on the clock, when a corner kick fell to Ben Baines but his fierce shot was blocked at close quarters by a defender.
The visitors weren’t faring much better, but they were controlling possession of the game and at least creating chances, a training ground free-kick routine was skied badly by Nick Chrysanthou, before Danny Jones (who had a much better game on this occasion than his Aylesbury namesake) set himself for a curler but placed the ball well wide.
Just before the half hour mark Acheampong raced onto a long ball forward before holding the ball up and playing in Field, and although his curling effort was well directed, it lacked the power to seriously trouble Russell Garland.
Hadley soon had the ball in the net when a through ball was converted with great aplomb, but the offside flag had quickly been raised and the ‘goal’ chalked off.
From that point on it was one-way traffic until half time as the visitors turned the screw. Sillitoe made a good save with his legs to deny a striker when another precise through ball played him in. The resulting corner kick was volleyed goalwards but blocked on the line by a well positioned Sam Slatter.
The goal which had undoubtedly been coming arrived four minutes from the interval. A throw-in found Petrucci who skipped inside Jack Wood and dribbled across the edge of the box before finding the bottom corner with well placed finish. 1-0 Hadley
Half-time: Aylesbury 0-1 Hadley
Aylesbury tried to raise their game in the second half, but Hadley were still playing much the better football, and after the Ducks had failed to make any inroads the visitors extended their lead on the hour mark.
The ball was played through again, and in a flash Petrucci was goalside of the last man before easily finishing past the exposed Sillitoe. 2-0 Hadley
Even with half an hour remaining, a comeback by United looked unlikely, Jack Wood having a long shot easily held by Garland as the game drifted by with little action.
Aylesbury introduced some fresh legs for the closing stages, and going into the last ten minutes did manage to exert some pressure on their comfortable visitors.
A Ducks break saw Edgeworth slide in Field for a rare sight of goal, but his shot cruelly rolled back of the upright.
However, Field wasn’t to be denied and he did find the net for the seventh match in a row just a minute later. A corner kick into the heart of Hadley’s six-yard area was hooked in from close range by the ever-alert Ducks striker. 1-2
It lead to some late drama, but Hadley were still causing problems at the other end as first Sillitoe appeared to bring down his man in the box, but referee Mr. Flanagan awarded a goal kick to the annoyance of the visiting bench.
Then, Petrucci skipped past several defenders but was denied his hat-trick by a good save from Sillitoe who tipped the ball wide.
Aylesbury’s number one was in the thick of the action again moments later when he came forward to join the attack at a stoppage time free-kick, getting on the end of Jones’ delivery but flashing a header wide.
Time had run out for Aylesbury with full-time sounding shortly afterwards, but in truth a comeback would have been harsh on Hadley who were worthy winners.
