On an unbearably hot afternoon, with pitch side temperatures almost double the air temperature before kick-off, the Ducks opened their Southern League campaign with a tough looking assignment at Harlow Town. Following the win at Ashton & Backwell United in the FA Cup the previous weekend, Manager Ben Williams was forced to reshuffle the squad, with both Harry Jones and Sonny French missing out following injuries incurred in the game. Back into the squad came Jake Bewley in place of Jones and Nasha Mukwada, starting in place of Ezra Anthonio-Forde, who started on the bench alongside Phil Appiah, Jamie Rudd, youngster Jet Dyer and newly signed striker David Aluko-Olukun. Playing on a newly laid 3G surface, the Ducks had a fantastic start. A ball played out to Mukwada on the right flank was well controlled before being played into the path of Tom McElroy, who laid it back to Ollie Hogg 10 yards outside the penalty area; his shot was arrowed into the bottom corner, giving home keeper Tom Crump no chance to open the scoring in the 3rd minute. 1-0 Aylesbury

5 minutes later the home side had a great chance to equalise, a cross from the right found Jared Small, who turned well away from Dave O’Connor and fired a shot at goal, only to see Archie Davis down quickly at his near post to save. A fine cross field pass by Anthony Ball saw the ball collected well by Ben Seaton; he attacked the fullback who was happy to concede a corner. Pierce McNamara took the corner kick, which was headed out by Josh Steele at the far post to conceded a second corner. This time the kick was taken by Bewley, who curled his corner over Crump and into the far corner to double the lead. 2-0 Aylesbury

Despite being in the ascendancy and controlling play in the middle of the park, the Ducks conceded a goal three minutes later. Layne Eadie did well to beat Ball to the Ball and crossed from the by-line, where Small rose highest to head home from 10 yards. 1-2

A fine opening quarter of the game almost saw a 4th goal in the 17th minute. Hogg won the ball in midfield and found Mukwada on the right; he cut inside and shot from 15 yards, but Crump did very well to save his low effort. Mukwada had a second opportunity as half time approached; Ben Seaton cushioned a header to McElroy, who found the winger 20 yards out, but again Crump was able to make the save. As the half time whistle approached, McElroy displayed sublime skills to beat 3 home defenders on the right touchline, before cutting into the penalty area and driving in a firm shot which Crump was able to save.

Half-time: Harlow 1-2 Aylesbury

The Hawks changed their goalkeeper at half time, with Robert Horgan replacing Crump. The new keeper was lucky not to concede in the 55th minute, when a cross from Seaton saw McElroy beat the keeper to the ball and feed it to Mukwada, who somehow miskicked in front of goal with the keeper stranded, with a defender able to clear his weak effort off the line. On the hour mark, a clearance was collected by Bewley in the middle of the park, and moved forward before unleashing a shot from 30 yards which was fumbled by Horgan, before recovering to grab the ball in front of an onrushing McElroy. On 78 minutes, Seaton collected a long ball down the left flank before finding McElroy up in support, whose shot from 20 yards was deflected over the bar for a corner. Bewley strode over to take the corner, and amazingly pulled off a second goal, a replica of his effort in the first half. Incredible as it was to see a player score two goals direct from a corner in the same match, it had supporters around the ground questioning whether the feat had ever been done before. 3-1 Aylesbury

If the Ducks fans thought that it was game over, they were mistaken. The Hawks, stung into action, pushed players forward in search of goals to get themselves back into the game. In the 84th minute, a dangerous cross by James Folkes saw centre back Josh Steele come agonisingly close to connecting as the ball flashed through the 6-yard box. Shortly afterwards, Steele did get a goal to celebrate his birthday; Alfie Attrill did well down the left before crossing into the box; a weak defensive header saw the ball fall to Steele, who struck a sweet volley past Davis to cut the deficit to one. 2-3

Two minutes later and the scores were level. A ball played towards substitute Aleko Aliaj, who beat Ball and got to the bye line, before crossing into the 6-yard box where new signing Hani Berchiche was on hand to guide the ball home from 6 yards. 3-3

Amazingly in a game that the Ducks thought they had won, it almost got worse as the clocked ticked into added on time. Aliaj played a long ball forward to Berchiche, who twisted inside Bewley and his cross-cum-shot was deflected over the bar by a back heel from Attrill. So, a hard-fought draw was the outcome, a result many would have accepted before the start, but to use a well-worn football cliché, it was perhaps a draw snatched from the jaws of victory and felt like a bitter pill to swallow for such a resolute and determined performance. Thoughts will quickly turn now to two home matches in 3 days as first of all the Ducks host Kidlington on Tuesday evening, before the FA Cup tie against Ardley United on Friday evening.