A goal each from strikers Stacey Field and Louis Austin in either half set Aylesbury on their way to a valuable three points at Haringey Borough in a gritty, hard fought encounter.

Haringey were forced to make last minute alterations to their team sheet having been hit by late withdrawals, and, with several players out of position, the home side had a disjointed look to it, and, in truth, looked a pale shadow of the outfit that had finished fifth the previous season.

United were unable to take advantage in the early stages, and were largely mediocre for the first twenty minutes, although a good driven effort from the recalled Greg Williams rose just over the bar with just three minutes played.

The poor playing surface, badly affected by the recent rains and Saturday morning frost, made passing football impossible and the match was pretty dismal for the opening quarter with the ball spending more time in touch than in play.

Steve Hatch made a good block to deny veteran striker Darrell Cox after the former Chesham man had latched onto a through a ball, and eight minutes later Chris Benjamin tricked his way into the box before placing a shot just wide of Jack Sillitoe’s post as Borough had their moments of threat.

Aylesbury went close themselves in between when Ben Butler was played in at the end of a swift counter attack, rounding the keeper and striking goalwards but his shot didn’t quite have enough power to reach the line and was swept away.

United’s opener was something of a gift, arriving midway through the half. Zac Reynolds found Stacey Field on the left, and his cross into the box was handled by a defender resulting in the referee immediately pointing to the spot. Field stepped up and squeezed his penalty past Erbil Bozkurt who guessed right but couldn’t reach the ball. 1-0 Aylesbury

The lead was somewhat undeserved, and Borough looked to hit back immediately as they forced their way into Aylesbury’s box again, but blazed well over when the striker should have at least hit the target.

The Ducks responded with a number of chances themselves as John Mulholland headed over Reynolds’ corner kick, whilst Field’s left footed shot on the turn was well directed but lacked the power to beat Bozkurt.

Borough drew level shortly before the interval amongst a rare moment of poor defending by United. A poor Haringey free-kick didn’t clear the first man, but the hosts were allowed to play the ball back into the box where Aylesbury were unable to clear. The ball fell to wily striker Cox who made no mistake from 10-yards. 1-1

In the last two minutes of the half both sides had further chances, with Dean Fenton rolling Lee Bircham before firing in a shot which Sillitoe did well to hold. At the other end Ben Baines passed to Austin who crossed early for Field to head just wide.

Half-time: Haringey 1-1 Aylesbury

The home side had the second half’s first effort as the ball fell kindly for midfielder Dewayne Clarke who drilled it just over from the edge of the box.

Aylesbury were back in front just five minutes after the restart. Field did brilliantly in the box to skilfully jink past a number of challenges before picking out Austin who managed to lift the ball over the advancing Bozkurt and into the net from close range. 2-1 Aylesbury

The game should have been sewn up before the hour mark as firstly Austin legally challenged Bozkurt for the ball but saw his header drop just over the bar.

Then, Reynolds crashed a tremendous shot towards goal that bounced down off the bar and back out for the following up Field who somehow headed over the open goal.

Five minutes later Field went close again, this time with an overhead kick, having received a right wing cross in the box.

As a result of not finishing the game off, Aylesbury had to endure some nervy moments, particularly when a shot from Fenton was saved by Sillitoe then cleared away as Haringey retained a goal threat.

Lee Bircham made a number of good interceptions and blocks as he had a solid second half at left back, as United defended well as a group to hold on to their lead.

As both sides made all of their substitutions, the flow of the game was disrupted further and chances were at a premium. Haringey replacement Richard Worrell saw a shot blocked, whilst Stacey Field fired an effort over at the other end.

With time running out, it was the visitors who had the remaining chances with Daniel Jones seeing his shot come off a defender and fly behind for a corner, and Hatch slashed a volley wide in stoppage time after Field had fired the ball across goal to bring the match to a close.