Two sides at opposing ends of the form spectrum met at Bell Close in the Calor League Division One Central – Aylesbury having won once in their last nine matches and Uxbridge victorious in six of their last seven.

The Ducks were boosted by the return of Liam Smyth, Ben Baines and Daniel Jones, but were without leading scorer Stacey Field following Thursday night’s cup defeat to Chesham United. There was a further late change to the initial teamsheet as Bill Morgan dropped out and was replaced by Steve Hatch – who had a fine game at centre half alongside skipper Jack Wood, who played his 200th Aylesbury United match.

Many were expecting a jaded looking Ducks performance given that this was their fourth game in eight days, but this was a good display which merited at least the point a saved late penalty would have brought.

Instead, it highlighted how fine the margins between winning and losing can be: the Ducks hitting both posts with an effort that would have put them 2-0 up, prior to Uxbridge going straight to the other end and levelling.

With the wind to their advantage, the Reds had the better of the first half chances, starting as early as the fifth minute when Craig Tomkins’ low cross-shot was beaten away by Jack Sillitoe with [player name removed] just unable to profit, and seconds later Matt Woods created space for himself to have a shot that went wide.

Paul Edgeworth flicked a Smyth free kick just wide, but Aylesbury were mostly being restricted to long shots with Blackett having three in the first half which all came to nothing, the best being the last, two minutes from the break, when dropped his shoulder to escape his marker but fired wide having been fed by Jones.

On the half hour mark an effort from Tomkins – who once scored a hat trick against the Ducks for AFC Hayes - was blocked for a corner which was half cleared as far as Mark Dennison, whose snapshot flew wide of the target.

Sillitoe then made a tremendous save to keep out a fierce shot from Lewis Wallace, showing his excellent reactions to tip wide the effort that he would have seen late through a crowd of players.

The chances kept coming as Woods placed an attempt wide all the way across goal when well placed, and another corner kick delivery from Wayne Carter saw Denison head straight at Sillitoe, as Aylesbury were somewhat thankful to get to the break on level terms.

Half-time: Aylesbury 0-0 Uxbridge

As in their previous game, the Ducks started the second half well and they had an early penalty shout turned down after Blackett beat stopper Rourke Pickford to the ball before the two collided, referee Mr Bayliss waving away the appeals.

A Baines header from Jones’s corner kick dropped wide, before a good move down the left saw Jones and Keith Williams link up with the latter crossing where Blackett was penalised, whilst Hatch was inches away from connecting with a probing Keith Williams free kick seconds later.

The Ducks scored the goal their early pressure deserved on 57 minutes. Baines’s pass forwards saw Jones get the better of Cole-Parkes and he got enough on the ball to roll it beyond the advancing Pickford and into the net. 1-0 Aylesbury

Reds’ boss Tony Choules responded with an attacking double substitution, but it initially failed to swing the momentum as a well delivered Jones corner was headed back across goal by Baines where it was half cleared to Hatch whose on-target header was nearly spilled by Pickford who just about managed to claim under pressure.

Midway through the half and Smyth’s superb curling ball into the box from the left was headed deftly goalwards by the unmarked Edgeworth, the ball cruelly hitting both uprights before bouncing clear.

It was a pivotal moment in the game, and, just like against Chesham, within the space of three minutes their opponents had scored two goals.

With twenty minutes remaining Tomkins charged down Lee Grace’s cross and squared the ball for ex-Duck Kieran Knight to squeeze the ball home from close range. 1-1

Things then got even worse for United as Woods cut inside of Grace from the left flank and fired in a low shot from the edge of the box which crept under the body of Sillitoe and into the net. 2-1 Uxbridge

The beleaguered Ducks could then have found themselves further behind when Woods wasted a flowing counter attack by smashing a shot over the bar, before Carter made a rare appearance in the penalty area but fired a good chance wide.

With thirteen minutes left Aylesbury made a double substitution of their own, sending on Dom Petrucci and Joey Acheampong, and they had the ball in the net soon afterwards but the flag had long been raised for offside against the ‘scorer’ Jones.

United’s late rally was enough to win them a rather soft penalty when Blackett was fouled in the area, but it was to no avail as the haunting theme of missed and saved penalties over the season continued and Pickford made a smart stop to deny Jones from the spot.

There was still time for Baines to see a shot blocked after a Jones corner, whilst Hatch levered down to Blackett who shot wide in the last minute, but full time wasn’t long in arriving as the referee blew with virtually no stoppage time played.

Despite the result it was another decent performance from Aylesbury with plenty of encouraging signs that on another day would have seen them take at least a point.