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Match report by Ian Pluck

After the disappointment of Tuesday night’s defeat at Berkhamsted, Ben Williams made two changes to the starting line-up. Jack Hopwood returned in goal, with Jamie Rudd recovering from a slight knock to replace Max Hercules, who himself is nursing a minor injury. Dave O’Connor recovered from a back strain which forced him off on Tuesday evening, but his replacement that evening, Liam McCrohan suffered a recurrence of his hamstring injury, so was absent today.

The Ducks returned to a happy hunting ground, having secured their biggest win of the season last year, with a 6-0 win. Playing on the 3-G surface which they thrive on, the Ducks started well. A diagonal ball found Jamie Rudd wide on the left, who cut inside Josh Webb but his shot was straight at keeper Paul Hathaway.

In the 15th minute, Rudd did so much better; another diagonal, this time from Ollie Hogg, sailed over Webb’s head, allowing Rudd to take a touch and despatch the ball calmly past Hathaway to open the scoring. 1-0 Aylesbury

The half settled down into somewhat of a midfield battle, with Hogg and Mark Riddick controlling affairs, denying the home side space on the ball. Just before the half hour, Sonny French slid the ball between the centre backs towards Rudd, but this time he lacked composure and skied his shot high and wide.

Just two minutes later and the home side were back in the game. A badly misjudged back pass by Harry Jones was picked up by the unmarked Daniel Dubidat, who slid the ball past Hopwood to score for the second successive game. 1-1

The striker had the chance to double his tally three minutes later; a ball down the right touchline found Gio Dainty, who crossed into the 6-yard box, but the effort was wide of the far post.

Five minutes later and the Ducks regained the lead. A corner from Ollie Hogg was half cleared but played back towards the edge of the penalty area, where the unlikely figure of Dave O’Connor found himself with a yard of space and smashed a half volley into the far corner of the net. 2-1 Aylesbury

Buoyed by the goal, the Ducks went on the attack, with French going close with a shot from 25 yards which cleared the crossbar. The ball was played forward by the home side, with Jones adjudged to have fouled Dubidat on the right side of the defence. Taylor Carter-Byrne fired a shot which cannoned off the wall and fell to Jake Bewley. He picked out a peach of a pass over the defence, which Rudd ran onto and calmly rounded Hathaway to score his second and his team’s third goal. 3-1 Aylesbury

As half time approached the home side had a great opportunity to get back into the game. O’Connor was caught in possession just outside the penalty area by Dainty. He advanced and shot, but Hopwood saved with his feet; the ball was returned into the penalty area, where Hogg headed clear, but only as far as Dainty whose shot was deflected just wide of the goal for a corner.

Half-time: Coleshill 1-3 Aylesbury

Starting the second half with the wind and rain in their faces, the Ducks at times struggled to get their short passing game going, quite often finding themselves pressed on the ball by an eager home team, and resorting to a long ball out, which left Ty Deacon isolated up front.

Within 4 minutes of the restart, a long ball over the head of Jack Wood was collected by Dubidat, but O’Connor recovered well to deflect his shot wide for a corner. Five minutes later Dubidat found strike partner Kai Tonge, who spread the ball wide to Webb; his cross was met first time by Kieron Hinchley who shot was well saved by Hopwood.

The Ducks were struggling to create any real chances at this stage of the game and it was the home side who had most of the opportunities. Another cross by Webb found Dubidat on the edge of the penalty area on 70 minutes, but his shot was disappointingly high and didn’t trouble Hopwood. Three minutes later, Rudd was penalised for a foul 25 yards from goal on the right. The free kick was taken by Webb, who found home skipper Joseph Halsall unmarked at the far post, but his header was just over the crossbar.

On 83 minutes, the referee awarded the first yellow card of the match after Jones slid in late on Carter-Byrne just outside the penalty area. Webb took a training ground free kick to the edge of the penalty area, but substitute Sam McLintock saw his shot deflected away for a corner.

Two minutes from the end, Anthony Ball, on as a substitute earlier in the half for Sonny French, eased the Ducks nerves by scoring the fourth goal. He won the ball wide on the right and advanced towards the corner of the penalty area and curled a shot beyond the diving Hathaway into the far corner of the net. 4-1 Aylesbury

Although that was the end of the goalmouth action, there was a flashpoint on halfway as Wood was taken out by a very late and reckless challenge by Carter-Byrne; the defender

lucky to be shown just a yellow card when many in the crowd considered a red to be more appropriate. Fortunately, after prolonged treatment, Wood was back to his feet and able to resume.

So, another good win on a 3G pitch and 4 wins out of 5 in the league for the Ducks, taking them to the top of the league for the first time since September 2012. Next up is a tricky FA Trophy clash at home to Isthmian League North team Tilbury, who, by coincidence also sit top of their league. It would be good to see a large home following to support the team in what is going to be a key match for the club.