Having lost at the first hurdle in the FA Cup to Thame in the first match of the season, the Ducks went into the FA Trophy 1st Qualifying Round in confident mood, sitting top of the division, having conceded only 1 goal in their 5 matches so far.

However, the Ducks line up was depleted for the long trip to Wroxham, with Charley Tuttle sitting out the first match of a 3-match suspension following an unsuccessful appeal after being sent off in the last match, and Morrison Hashii missing due to family commitments. Into the line up came Haziz Kone and Kajetan Halatyn, with Will St Clair-Burton moving to centre back, allowing Jake Bewley to take up a familiar berth at left back.

A cagey start to the match ensued, with the hosts, on the back of a poor start to the season themselves, finding it hard to retain possession, in the face of some good pressing from the Ducks.

The first chance fell to Ryan Miles in the 10th minute, when the wide man picked up a pass from Jacek Zielonka 35 yards out, but his ambitious shot was high over the crossbar. Five minutes later a long clearance over the head of St Clair-Burton and found Charlie Royle, but his attempted lob saw a back-pedalling Jack Hopwood claim comfortably.

The first opportunity for the Ducks came in the 33rd minute, Liam Batchelor-Morgan cutting infield and finding Halatyn, who fired in a left foot shot just wide of the post.

Three minutes before half time a ball through the defence saw Hopwood advance out of his area as Bewley and Royle converged on the ball; Bewley took charge of the situation well and cleared the ball from danger.

As half time approached, Kone won the ball well in his own half, before advancing and playing a good pass to Kwai Marsh-Brown, who outpaced Jordan King before sending in a shot-cum-cross which keeper Ollie Sutton caught under his crossbar.

Next up, a smart corner routine by the Yachtsmen saw Zielonka send a low ball into the penalty area, where King dummied allowing the ball to run to the unmarked Miles, 15 yards out, but his first time shot was too high to trouble Hopwood.

The last action of the half saw a good run by Marsh-Brown down the left, reaching the bye line before firing in a powerful low cross towards Kamil Zielinski, which was well saved at the near post.

Half-time: 0-0

Into the second half, a Bewley throw in to Marsh-Brown saw him tackled by Robbie Linford; the ball fell to Luqman Kassim, who cut inside off his flank to shoot, but saw his goal bound effort deflected wide for a corner. Ben Stallard took the corner, finding Jack Wood in the 6-yard box, but his header was narrowly over the crossbar.

In the 68th minute, St Clair-Burton picked the ball up in the centre circle, advanced to 30 yards before shooting wide of target.

With 15 minutes left on the clock, the hosts had a great opportunity to open the scoring. Miles cut in from the left flank before seeing his shot blocked by Wood; the ball fell to Jordan Forbes, who was challenged by St Clair-Burton, falling nicely to Zielonka, but his shot was weak, causing Hopwood no real problem.

In a disappointing match for goal mouth action, it was no real surprise when the game ended goalless after 90 minutes, meaning the ordeal of a penalty shootout to determine the winners. Sadly for the Ducks, both Stallard and Zielinski missed their penalties, while only King missed for the Yachtsmen, although Hopwood came agonisingly close to keeping the last spot kick from Harvey Peters out, the ball squirming under his body and creeping over the line.

So, as with the FA Cup, an early exit from the Trophy, but if we are looking at positives, another sound defensive display and a 5th clean sheet of the season. So, all attention is now focused on gathering points in the league, starting with the visit of Hertford Town next Saturday, with the Ducks aiming to stay on top of the division.