Aylesbury’s poor form continued, as a second half as miserable as the weather for the Ducks saw them lose 3-1 in Cambridgeshire at St Ives Town, a side with a similar record to their own.
Having returned to the club earlier in the week, Daniel Mead was handed the 198th start of his United career, and with Jake Bewley back in the starting lineup ahead of him on the wing, the new look left wing showed plenty of promise.
That was the positive.
On the flip side this was an eminently winnable fixture for the Ducks against a team in the lower reaches of the table, but the hosts took their chances when they came and two second half goals and a red card had Aylesbury’s eighth defeat in nine games complete.
The early play belonged to the away side, with most of their good work coming down the left as a Bewley long shot was held by goalkeeper Tim Trebes. Mead then released Bewley with a fine pass, and his well directed cross was volleyed just wide by Stacey Field on the near post.
St Ives wasted their first clear opening on eleven minutes when a long ball wasn’t cut out by the Aylesbury defence, allowing leading scorer Ben Seymour-Shove to run through but he opted to pass instead of trying a shot and the chance was gone.
The conditions were making life tough for both sides, and by the 25th minute the rain had reached monsoon levels with players struggling to keep their feet and football at a premium.
There were chances at both ends though - a miss-hit long shot from Field falling kindly for Jesse Waites whose shot was blocked, whilst Stuart Eason headed a deep cross straight at Sillitoe and Seymour-Shove went close again when he pinched the ball from Shane Wood, lifted a shot over the goalkeeper but high and wide of the target.
As the rain grew heavier still, Aylesbury’s fortunes took a similar downward turn. Bewley put in a decent cross from the left which came to nothing, Waites’s attempt at similar from the opposite flank was charged down, allowing the Saints to break with speed and menace.
Seymour-Shove was played into the box, managing to get goal side of Shane Wood who brought down his man for a clear penalty, which Jack Higgs had no trouble converting to open the scoring. 1-0 St Ives
Debutant Kieran Fitzgerald was a whisker away from doubling his side’s lead seven minutes later when he cut back from the left flank and fired in a cross-shot that flashed just beyond the far post.
Instead, it was Aylesbury who drew level when a rare passing move allowed Jack Wood to thread the ball through to Bewley who drew the keeper and calmly slotted the ball past him. 1-1
St Ives still had time for a great chance to reestablish their lead when the ball was played across the area to the unmarked Eason, but he could only produce a complete air kick and the scores stayed level at the interval.
Half-time: St Ives 1-1 Aylesbury
Rather bizarrely, the rain had eased off for the half time break, yet as soon as the game got underway, increasingly heavy downpours began again at an already sodden Westwood Road, but the pitch coped well and there never seemed any danger to the match.
Aylesbury threatened first when Stacey Field’s free kick had to be turned over by Trebes, and from the resulting Mead-taken corner kick the ball was punched out as far as Field who shot wide.
Continuing their positive start to the half, Jason Blackett then had a strong shout for a penalty as he seemed to have been taken out in the six yard box just as he was about to pull the trigger.
It was Blackett who had Aylesbury’s best chance, coming from one of their best moves of the game as Hatch and Waites combined on the right before the former crossed for Blackett to power a near post header wide.
A minute later and Bewley’s cross was taken down by Blackett for Field whose shot was blocked at close quarters.
The game was end to end stuff at this point and just before Aylesbury’s chances Sillitoe’s hare-from-goal-slide-tackle manoeuvre had conceded a free kick that was crashed over by Higgs, and Charlie Death wasted a free header from a corner kick by heading wide shortly afterwards.
When play switched to the other end again after Field’s chance, St Ives went ahead for the second time of the afternoon. Hatch’s wayward defensive header was intercepted, with Fitzgerald playing a square ball to Eason in space who superbly chipped the ball over Sillitoe, with Scott Sinclair following in the make sure the ball crossed the line. 2-1 St Ives
Field went close again with a better version of his earlier free kick, forcing Trebes into a good save to tip the ball over from 30-yards.
Sadly that was about as close as Aylesbury were to come in the closing stages, and despite the introduction of all three substitutes - with new signing Orlando Joao producing a couple of promising flashes in his brief cameo - the Ducks only had a few corner kicks as the sum total of their efforts.
Three minutes from time and St Ives added a third when a move down the right ended with Sinclair crossing to Seymour-Shove at the far post, and he seemed to have all the time in the world to control the ball and find the bottom corner for his eighth goal of the season. 3-1 St Ives
Aylesbury’s miserable afternoon was compounded a minute from time when Bill Morgan was sent off for a second yellow card for a mistimed challenge.
All in all a thoroughly disappointing afternoon for Aylesbury; next up for the Ducks is the Berks & Bucks Senior Cup Quarter Final against Chalfont St. Peter at Bell Close.
