Aylesbury made their final trip to Essex of the season (and possibly a lot longer) as they took on Hornchurch at Bridge Avenue. The Ducks were hoping to take advantage of the home side?s current fixture pile-up, although the Urchins were still able to put out a strong side, including the dangerous strike force of Bertie Brayley and Vinnie John in their line-up.

United manager Paul Curtis made two changes to the side that had played out a goalless draw at home to Braintree, with Greg Williams and Alvin Bubb making way for John Winter and Jay Gould.

Very much like the previous two encounters between Aylesbury and Hornchurch this season, the quality of the football on display throughout the match left a lot to be desired. The home side started well though, with a second minute 25-yard drive from Brayley forcing Ducks keeper Jack Rashid into early action with a flying save.

With the game already becoming a somewhat scrappy affair, Aylesbury?s first chance came on 12 minutes when Adam Garner headed a corner well over from a good position. This turned out to be Aylesbury?s best chance of the first half, although they threatened again a few minutes later when Ryan Wiffin headed the ball over the outcoming goalkeeper only to see it scrambled clear by the Urchins defence.

A sustained period of pressure for Hornchurch began midway through the half, when both Lee Williams and then Brayley forced Rashid into action again. Robert Martin soon found himself clean through behind the Ducks defence, only to find himself closed down by Rashid as he reached the penalty area, and eventually tackled by the recovering Jamie Moss.

The Ducks suffered a major and possibly fatal blow on the half-hour mark when Matt Hayward was forced off to be replaced by Alvin Bubb. Soon after, Hornchurch fired a warning shot when they found the back of the net, only to see the goal disallowed for an obvious foul on the goalkeeper. On 38 minutes however, they took the lead for real when Jamie Southon headed home a cross from the right to make it 1-0 at the break.

Despite never looking like scoring for the majority of the first half, Aylesbury had some genuine opportunities to equalise in the second half. The first fell to Alvin Bubb ten minutes after the break, but disappointingly he couldn?t beat Urchins goalkeeper Daniel Gay one-on-one. Ryan Wiffin then headed wide from a difficult angle two minutes later.

Alvin Bubb found himself behind the defence again on 66 minutes as he latched on to Rashid?s long punt upfield, but he could only blast the bouncing ball over the crossbar from eight yards, and another chance to score his sixth Ducks goal and become Aylesbury?s joint top scorer this season went begging.

Despite the appearance of Byron Bubb from the bench to join his cousin Alvin and Donovan Reed up front in a three-pronged strike force, United couldn?t create another chance to equalise, and other than a couple of long-range efforts from John Martin and Mark Graham for Hornchurch, the game unfortunately petered out towards the end.

So, another relatively good defensive performance from Aylesbury and more proof that this inexperienced side is at least capable of competing with the division?s big guns. If Aylesbury had taken one of the few chances that came their way, they could possibly have pulled off an unlikely draw, but once again it is the Ducks? inability to score goals that has cost them the match.