Buoyed by a first win of the season at North Leigh the week before, the Ducks went into the game looking to build on the form of that day and look to create a shock against high flying Bedford Town in the FA Trophy. On a blisteringly hot day, Manager Jack Wells made a couple of changes to the starting line up, Rocko Tamplin rewarded for his fine performance from the bench last week, starting in place of Josh Iheanacho and new signing Kwai Marsh-Brown starting in place of Owen James (the shorter), who has now left the club.

It was a cagey opening to the day, probably dictated by the conditions, with little in the way of goal mouth opportunities. The closest effort in the open 10 minutes came when Tamplin made good ground down the right and squared the ball to Jack Moriarty, but his shot from 20 yards was tame and easily claimed by Nathan McDonald in the visiting goal.

The Eagles had a good opportunity of their own a minute later, when a deep corner from Louis Walsh was met by the head of Shane Bush at the far post, but his effort hit the post; the follow up fell to Lewis Green, but his goal bound effort was deflected over the bar by Derek Feyi.

Walsh had a great opportunity shortly afterwards, when a through ball by Ben Spaule was deflected off Lewis Crosbie into his path; with a clear run in on goal in a central position, James Callan did exceptionally well to force him wide meaning he could only cross the ball rather than shoot, his cross finding Jesse Akubuine, on the edge, who couldn’t hit the target with his effort.

Eight minutes before the scheduled half time break, Ryan Blake made good progress down the right flank before pulling the ball back to Akubuine, but this time his shot was well saved low down by Callan.

After keeping the score level through the 45 minutes, the Ducks would be disappointed to concede deep into added on time. A disputed corner from the left by Walsh was met by former Aylesbury favourite Alex Collard at the near post to flick a header into the net. 1-0 Bedford

Half-time: Aylesbury 0-1 Bedford

Into the second half, and needing to chase the game, the Ducks started much more positively. Passing was noticeably crisper and opportunities to break into the final third were more frequent. Eight minutes into the second period, Jack Empson made a good run down the right, turned to cross but had his heels clipped by Collard resulting in a penalty. Up stepped Dave Pearce to maintain his 100% record from the spot this season to draw the Ducks level. 1-1

The Ducks had a great chance to take the lead in the 62nd minute, Marsh-Brown did well to create a crossing opportunity on the left, finding substitute Iheanacho, but the striker’s header was wide of target.

After nearly going ahead, the Ducks were disappointed to concede two minutes later. A patient build up saw the Eagles pass the ball around before finding Akubuine 20 yards out; unchallenged, he took aim and fired a shot in off Callan’s left hand post. 1-2

Many might have expected the Ducks to capitulate in the heat and under pressure from their better resourced visitors, but that was far from the case. Three minutes after going behind, the scores were level; more great work by Marsh-Brown on the left saw him reach Jake Bewley’s pass down the left, get to the touchline and pull it back to Pearce 10 yards out who calmly sidefooted home. Cue a chorus of complaints from the visitors, claiming the ball had gone out of play, but the video footage at that end of the pitch shows that he managed to just keep it in before crossing - the old adage of play to the whistle comes to mind. Indeed, a few of the opposition numbers could be judged lucky not to see yellow cards for their dissenting shouts at the officials. 2-2

The Eagles went for broke as the game approached the closing stages, sending on veteran ex pro striker Adam Cunnington to make his presence felt up front. As the game reached 90 minutes, he came close to claiming a goal, when he met a cross by Lewis Green, but his header from 12 yards was wide of target.

However, he was to get one more chance deep into added on time, as a soft free kick was awarded for a foul on him 35 yards out. A well worked set piece saw the ball played square to Blake, who crossed to Collard; the skipper headed back across goal and |Cunnington was there to power home a header from 10 yards to steal the win with virtually the last touch of the game. 2-3

Despite the defeat and the disappointment of exiting the FA Trophy at the first stage, there was plenty to like today, especially in the second half when it would be difficult to have judged who was the higher ranked team. A good debut by Kwai Marsh-Brown, who gave glimpses of what he can offer the team and the resilience and fitness across the team on a baking hot day auger well when the Ducks return to competitive action on Sat 30th Sep, at home to Barton Rovers.