The ‘win one, lose one’ nature of Aylesbury’s February continued as the concession of soft goals haunted them once more, as one in each half saw visitors Royston Town helped on their way to three points at Bell Close.

The Crows, in patchy form themselves of late and having suffered a shock recent defeat at AFC Hayes, rarely looked as effective as they had in beating United 3-0 back in August, but with the Ducks looking toothless in attack had little reason for concern.

A toe injury saw Stacey Field added to the long injury list, and when Shane Wood limped out of the warm up manager Tony Joyce’s options were further restricted. Tinashe Chabata replaced Field, whilst Joey Acheampong – who had been named as a substitute – was Wood senior’s late replacement, for his first start since October.

Both sides had chances blocked in the opening minutes, with Bill Morgan getting in the way of Kaan Fehmi’s shot, a rebound crashed over the bar, and then Lewis Putman seeing his effort also stopped at the other end after a throw in had fallen at his feet.

It was Royston who got the early breakthrough though, impressive Leyton Orient loanee Ayomide Adeboyejo taking just eight minutes of his debut to find the net with a dipping effort that deceived Tahj Bell. The ball across to him should have been cleared by right back Chabata, who got himself in a horrible mess, but it was an excellent finish from the 17-year old nonetheless. 1-0 Royston

It was fellow Orient debutant, Montel Agyemang, who went close next when some neat football ended with a curling shot from the midfielder that had to be tipped over by Bell, and from the resulting corner Ryan Wharton headed wide.

Five minutes later and another telling flag kick was met by Liam McDevitt, but with the same result as the unmarked defender headed wide and a third, just before the half hour mark, saw Fehmi hook the ball over the bar.

Frederick blocked from Bradshaw at yet another corner kick, before he was then involved at the other end with a rare shot for Aylesbury from their first set piece of the afternoon, Frederick’s shot also charged down in the area.

Chabata, who has had a difficult start to his Aylesbury career, was forced out of the game as injury claimed another victim, and Lea Coulter came on to replace him at full back.

The final five minutes of the half saw a sustained spell of pressure on the Royston goal for the first time, with a succession of corners, the best of which saw Jack Wood’s header stopped before it reached the goal.

In stoppage time Jack Wood was fouled on the edge of the box, giving Lewis Putman an opportunity to score his third free kick in three games. On this occasion though, it was a poorly struck, scuffed effort that was at least deflected behind for one more corner opportunity, but it lead to nothing.

Half-time: Aylesbury 0-1 Royston

Royston wasted no time in getting back to the pitch after the half time break, and they were quickly on top with Agyemang lashing a shot wide from the edge of the box after a long run down the right by Adeboyejo had created the opening.

And within five minutes their lead was doubled, but again the ball should have been cut out – Jake Bewley the guilty man this time. Fehmi took full advantage of the opportunity as he bore down on goal before squeezing it in off the post to score his fifth goal against Aylesbury over the years. 2-0 Royston

Even at such an early stage, the second goal looked to have killed off United’s hopes of getting anything from the game, but to their credit the Ducks kept battling.

With league leading goalscorer Lewis Putman leading the line there was always hope of a moment of magic, and it nearly came when a superb touch saw him leave veteran Dave Theobald floundering, but his eventual shot was well blocked in the box.

At the other end Jack Bradshaw tried his luck with a couple of long rangers – the first straight at Bell, the second having to be carefully watched and turned wide, midway through the half. The corner was played out to the same player on the edge of the box, who took his time but could only curl the ball well wide of goal.

Another two Aylesbury corners saw a shot blocked, and Frederick heading wide, before the Ducks finally had a clear cut chance when Acheampong latched onto a flicked on ball, but he could only blaze over the bar on the half volley.

Once again, Royston were gifted another great shooting chance for themselves, only for the ball to be deflected and then saved by Bell on its’ way behind.

The closing stages saw Field and youngster Alex Little both given cameos, and as Shaun Owens and Lea Coulter both fizzed well struck efforts just past the upright, and a late penalty appeal for Putman was waved away, Aylesbury failed to find the net for the first time since November.