Report by David FiggAylesbury United's hopes of starting 2018 on a winning note and with a change of luck were dashed as they slipped to a 1-3 away defeat by Thame United in their Evo-Stik Southern League East Division New Year's Day local derby at the ASM Stadium, Thame on Monday.
This latest defeat takes The Ducks' losing streak to 6 games and with results elsewhere, United were left in next to bottom place in the table a point behind 20th placed Barton Rovers and a further 2 points behind 19 placed Hanwell, albeit with 3 games in hand over Barton and 2 over Hanwell.
Meanwhile, Thame went into Monday's game in 11th place on the back of having had their 4 match winning run ended with a 0-1 away defeat by 2nd placed AFC Dunstable on Boxing Day.
The afternoon got off to a slightly emotional start as players from both side formed a guard of honour for Thame captain Ellis Hercules who was playing his last game after over 200 appearances for the club since season 2012-13 before taking up a job opportunity in New Zealand.
The first chance saw Thame take the lead in somewhat controversial circumstances in the 3rd minute when Connor Furlong lost possession on the hosts' right to Dan West who ran forward before finding Ben Connelly, whose through ball found Lynton Goss who despite clearly being 3-4 yards offside was allowed to run on before firing his right foot shot from 12 yards past Ducks keeper Jack Sillitoe for his 22nd goal of the season. 1-0 Thame
The hosts went close to doubling their lead in the 9th minute when Ben Sturgess played a one-two on the right with Goss and ran to the byeline before see his cross not fully cleared with the ball running to Sturgess, whose right foot shot from the edge of the box hit the bar.
It was 2-0 in the 14th minute when Goss's free kick from the left found West who sent his glancing header from 12 yards in off the underside of the bar for his 22nd goal of the season. 2-0 Thame
Aylesbury went close to pulling a goal back in the 26th minute when Jake Bewley's cross from the left found a stretching Tre Mitford at the far post who sent his header from 8 yards wide of Thame keeper Craig Hill's left hand post.
Another chance came the visitors' way in the 29th minute when Bewley's free kick from 25 yards on the right was held to his left by Hill.
Then at the other end in the 34th minute, Thame went close when the lively Goss made a diagonal run from middle to right before firing his right foot shot from the right hand corner of the box well over.
What proved to be the last chance of the first came Aylesbury's way in the 35th minute when a stray cross-field ball from middle to right by Thame left back David Lynn found Furlong on The Ducks' left who ran forward before crossing for Mitford to send his glancing header from 10 yards wide of Hill's left hand post.
HALF TIME: Thame United 2-0 Aylesbury United
The first chance of the second half came The Ducks' way in the 47th minute when Ollie Hogg's long cross-field ball from left to right found Aaron Couch, whose shot was saved to his right by Hill.
United went close again in the 54th minute when Hogg's great long ball from middle to right found Furlong who cut in before squaring infield to his left to Mitford, whose shot was blocked.
Then at the other end in the 56th minute, the hosts went close when Adam Morris's corner from the right was cleared by Jack Wood to West, who sent his right foot shot from 20 yards on the left not far wide of Sillitoe's left hand post.
The Ducks made their first change in the 57th minute when Sonny French came on for James Gurteen.
The visitors had a shout for a possible penalty in the 60th minute when Furlong turned on the right before sending a low through ball to Ollie Stanbridge who squared infield to Greg Williams, who went down in the box under challenge from Lynn but Swindon referee Daniel Lamport waved away Ducks' claims for a penalty.
Thame made their first change of the afternoon in the 61st minute when Luke Ricketts came on to replace Harry Mepham.
Aylesbury went close again in the 65th minute when Stanbridge's low through ball on the right found Mitford, whose right foot shot from 16 yards was superbly tipped over by Hill for a corner.
Bewley whipped the resulting flag kick from the left towards the near post where Mitford sent his header from 4 yards into the centre of the net to give The Ducks a lifeline in the 66th minute. 2-1
Thame made their second change in the 68th minute with Tom Ashworth coming on for Morris before Aylesbury made their second change in the 72nd minute when Bruno Brito came on for Couch.
Just 39 seconds later (still in the 72nd minute), it was 3-1 when Goss made a mazy cross-field run from right to left before crossing for West, who out-jumped Jeanmal Prosper to send his header from 6 yards into Sillitoe's left hand corner. 3-1 Thame
Despite that goal, it was The Ducks who enjoyed more of the possession in the second half but were unable to find a way through thanks to some solid Thame defending.
The visitors had a chance in the 82nd minute when Brito fired a low 25 yard shot wide of Hill's left hand post.
Thame went close to adding to their lead in the 85th minute when Ricketts ran down the left and cut in before squaring to his right to West, who took a touch before sending his right foot shot from 20 yards only just over the bar.
That proved to be the last serious clear-cut chance for either side and after Thame had made their final change 3 and a quarter minutes into added time at the end when Nick Harrison came on to replace Goss, the final blast of referee Lamport's whistle 46 seconds later confirmed that The Ducks' losing streak was now up to 6 games.
