1 | ||
2 | ||
3 | ||
4 | ||
5 | 14, 46m | |
6 | ||
7 | ||
8 | 15, 61m | |
9 | ||
10 | ||
11 | 12, 72m | |
BENCH | ||
---|---|---|
12 | 11, 72m | |
14 | 5, 46m | |
15 | 8, 61m | |
16 | ||
17 | ||
MANAGEMENT | ||
M |
1 | ||
2 | ||
3 | ||
4 | ||
5 | ||
6 | ||
7 | ||
8 | ||
9 | 12, 83m | |
10 | 14, 76m | |
11 | 16, 85m | |
BENCH | ||
---|---|---|
12 | 9, 83m | |
14 | 10, 76m | |
15 | ||
16 | 11, 85m |
Buoyed by the return to the substitutes bench of both Ollie Hogg and Jamie Rudd, finally the Ducks squad had a welcome air of familiarity this afternoon, also boosted by the arrival of new striker Tyrone Lewthwaite who took his place in the starting XI, replacing Curtis Brown, the only change to the side who battled so valiantly against Thame on Wednesday evening.
Lewthwaite started well, chasing a ball down the left and outpacing Jonny Butler to force an early corner. Max Hercules delivered a deep cross which was met by Jack Wood, who headed it back into the 6 yard box, where Butler just managed to nick the ball away from Lewthwaite as he shaped to shoot.
With 8 minutes on the clock Hercules released Jake Bewley down the wing, his cross to the near post found Lewthwaite, but the ball bounced up and struck his knee, before going narrowly wide of the target.
On the quarter hour, a Hercules free kick found Dave O’Connor at the far post, but his header flew narrowly wide of the goal. Lewthwaite continued to impress, ploughing a lone furrow up front with the company of two centre backs whenever the ball came to him; he combined with Sonny French before firing straight at keeper Jack Berman.
It was however quite a familiar story though as the half developed; for all their pressure, the Ducks couldn’t make their dominance pay and were punished in the 32nd minute. Anthony Ball took a throw in half way inside his own half, choosing to throw the ball across the pitch instead of up the line. Dan Bond intercepted the ball and played in Alex Marsh, unmarked on the edge of the penalty area, who calmly despatched the ball past Archie Davis to score with the visitors’ first attempt on goal. 1-0 Biggleswade
Half-time: Aylesbury 0-1 Biggleswade
Ben Seaton came on to replace Jordan Jenkins at the start of the second half, with Dave O’Connor switching to partner Wood at the back. No doubt re-energised by the half time words of the management team, the Ducks came out and started well. French won the ball on the left and threaded the ball inside to Harry Jones, who turned his defender and fired a fine left foot shot against the near post and out for a goal kick.
Two minutes later a fine drilled pass by French saw Hercules cut inside Butler and find Jones 12 yards out. This time his shot was on target, but straight at Berman, although the keeper was relieved to see the ball stay his side of the line as it squirmed through his legs.
On the hour mark, a Hercules corner was met powerfully by Riddick, but his header was cleared off the line by a defender. One minute later and Bewley crossed well from the left, Jones meeting the ball with a good header which crashed down off the crossbar to Seaton 6 yards out, but his effort was straight at a grateful Berman.
As has so often been the case of late, the visitors made the Ducks pay for their profligacy, scoring a second totally against the run of play. Charley O’Keefe played a ball down the left to skipper Tom Coles, who skipped past Ball as he slipped and crossed low to Marsh at the far post, who seemed to scuff his effort, but it still had enough power to roll over the line after Davis had attempted to save it. 2-0 Biggleswade
The second goal truly knocked the confidence out of the Ducks, and in truth created very little as the game approached its end. Indeed, it was the visitors who scored twice more to give the score line a very flattering look. Two minutes before the end of normal time, a long clearance found Marsh on the half way line, he advanced towards the penalty area and rounded Davis to tap in his third of the game and put the result beyond any doubt. 3-0 Biggleswade
To add salt to the wounds, as the clock ticked into added on time, a mishit cross from the right saw Davis back pedal and could only touch the ball onto the crossbar, where Marsh’s twin Lawrie was on hand to add a 4th goal. 4-0 Biggleswade
Fortunately, all of the teams below the Ducks also lost, apart from St Neots whose draw saw them go level on points with the Ducks. Next up is a trip to play off chasing Ware FC on Saturday.