The final knockout competition, the Berks & Bucks Senior Cup, pitted the Ducks against Long Crendon of the Spartan South Midlands League; the injury crisis engulfing the squad showed no signs of abating, offering manager Ben Williams the opportunity to give full debuts to youngsters Junayd Shawwal, Rocko Tamplin and Luke Greville, as well as Jaedon Phillips and Jack Seaton, brother of Ben.

It should have been no surprise then that the team struggled to find any cohesion in the early stages, with passing going astray and the hosts forcing mistakes. Indeed, it was Crendon that showed the greater attacking intent and they took an early lead; Harry Jones lost the ball on the right touchline where Oli Lethbridge passed the ball inside to Tom Ashworth who curled a shot beyond Archie Davis into the far corner. 1-0 Long Crendon

The Ducks hit back well, with Jones collecting the ball on the right and clipping a cross into the penalty area, where Shawwal directed a header goalward, but straight into the arms of Josh Cullen.

However, it was the hosts who struck again in the 18th minute to extend their lead. A long ball forward found both Christian Warwick and Lethbridge beyond the defence and looking suspiciously offside; but with the asst ref’s flag staying down, Warwick drew Davis from his goal before squaring to his colleague who calmly tapped in from 8 yards. 2-0 Long Crendon

Shawwal was seeing plenty of the ball and had two more good chances before half time; first Tamplin passed the ball into his path, but his shot was well claimed above his head by Cullen, before a cross from the left by Jones was met by Shawwal, but this time his header drifted wide of the target.

Half-time: Long Crendon 2-0 Aylesbury

The second half saw the Ducks take more control of the game, finding their range with their passing and stretching the home defence. Jones, switched to the left side of defence, found Tamplin, whose shot deflected to Greville, but his shot was high and wide of the target.

In the 51st minute Jones played the ball inside the full back for Shawwal to run on to, but he was upended by Cullen as he rounded the keeper, with referee Gareth Viccars awarding a penalty and a yellow card for the challenge. Jones stepped up and powered the penalty into the top corner. 1-2

Soon after, Greville came off second best in an aerial challenge in the middle of the park and was substituted, to be replaced by Jake Bewley. Bewley, playing in an unfamiliar midfield role, relished the opportunity and was soon in the action, winning tackles and starting attacking moves.

On the hour, Jones picked up the ball on half way and drove forwards, before shooting from 20 yards, only to see his shot slice wide of the post.

In appalling conditions, with a strong wind and rain lashing down, attacking opportunities were few and far between, but the hosts did fashion an opportunity on the break with 10 minutes left on the clock. Substitute Alex Hall, again looking suspiciously offside collected a ball over the top and squared to Warwick. As Davis came out from goal, he rounded him, avoiding any contact, but blazed over the bar.

As the clocked ticked into the 90th minute, Crendon had a great chance to seal the game, Lethbridge collecting a ball over the top and advancing towards Davis’ goal, but tiredness was definitely a factor as he chipped his attempt tamely into the keeper’s arms.

The drama wasn’t over though, as a driven pass from Pierce McNamara found Sangoya wide on the right, who volleyed first time into the 6 yard box, where Cullen failed to claim the ball, and Gavin James gratefully tapped home to draw the scores level. 2-2

With no further action, the game went straight to penalties, but as was the case earlier in the season against Chipstead in the FA Trophy, penalties were not kind to the Ducks, as Crendon won the shoot out shootout 5 - 4, with some well struck penalties being scored by both sides.

They go forward to host Binfield in the next round, avenging their defeat to the Ducks in the FA Cup last season; we wish them well. The Ducks now face a tricky run of league matches, starting on Saturday at home to Harlow Town, hopefully Ben Williams will have a few more fit bodies to choose from as he looks to address a run of 4 games without a victory.