After an enforced 2 week break due to the postponement of the fixture at Kidlington last week, Dave Tuttle restored Derek Feyi to the starting line up and gave debuts to two players, his son Charley and Ayman Dahdouh, who both took their place in midfield in place of the suspended David Lynn and Tyriq Hunte. Rotated to the bench was Brayden Daniel.

The Ducks started well, a Jake Bewley throw found Dahdouh on the left, who looked up and sprayed a ball across to Tom Cove, playing on the right side of midfield. He cut inside Nicholas Peare and got a shot in from 20 yards, but his effort was wide of the keeper’s left-hand post. The good start continued, when a corner was forced after 10 minutes, Dave Pearce delivered from the right to Derek Feyi, who towered above his marker to get a header on target, but Stuart Nelson was alert enough to tip the ball over the crossbar.

The Centurions had their first chance from a corner two minutes later, taken by Felix Miles it was met by George Peare, but his effort was well saved by James Callan. The opening goal came just past the half hour, a hopeful punt forward by Jake Lee saw the Ducks defence flat-footed, allowing Peare to collect the ball and break into the penalty area unchallenged, firing inside Callan’s near post from an acute angle. 1-0 Cirencester

Seven minutes later and it could have been two; Miles did well to win the ball on the edge of the penalty area from Feyi, showed good control to evade the challenges of 3 Ducks defenders, but saw his shot flash across the face of goal and out for a goal kick.

As the game entered added on time at the end of the first half, the visitors did extend their lead; Miles made good ground from halfway before sliding the ball to Willem Pooley, who crossed from the byline to Peare at the far post; he headed back across goal where Ben Whitehead was on hand to tap in from a couple of yards. 2-0 Cirencester

Half-time: Aylesbury 0-2 Cirencester

The Ducks made a change to start the second half, with Daniel replacing Ben Peters, the formation showing a change, with Cove moving to a more familiar left flank and Dahdouh playing alongside Tuttle in a more central role.

In the 63rd minute, Bewley did well to win the ball on the left, made good ground towards the penalty area before finding Pearce 20 yards out. He laid the ball into the path of Cove, whose shot from 20 yards was too high to trouble Nelson.

From the next attack, Peare did well to beat the challenge of Jack Wood and broke towards goal on the byline, but his ball across goal was narrowly out of the reach of Miles, who was unable to make a connection.

Shortly afterwards came the most controversial moment of the match, as Miles passed the ball through the defence to Whitehead in an apparently offside position; he finished well past Callan, only for the asst ref to raise his flag belatedly. Instead of awarding a free kick, referee Joe Karram chose to overrule his assistant and award the goal, judging that the ball had been deliberately played backwards by a Ducks defender. 3-0 Cirencester

Despite the frustration of the decision, the Ducks hit back straight away, a good run by Cove down the left saw him fire a low cross into the 6-yard box, where Nick Peare could only divert his attempted clearance into his own net. 1-3

Despite trying hard, the Ducks were unable to cause much in the way of clear-cut chances and were open to be caught on the break, but in truth, neither side showed enough quality in the final stages to add to the scoreline. So, a disappointing defeat, but the Ducks now move on to a crucial match at Hadley next Saturday, one of the teams embroiled in the fight to break away from the lower reaches of the division.