After suffering their 4th straight defeat in all competitions with a 0-2 away defeat by Flackwell Heath in the Berks and Bucks Senior Cup 4th Round in midweek, Aylesbury United's hopes of getting back to winning ways were dashed as they drew 1-1 at home to Welwyn Garden City in their Pitching In Southern League Division 1 Central clash at The Meadow, Chesham.

Aylesbury went into the game in 8th place in the table, a point ahead of 9th placed Ware with 10th placed AFC Dunstable a further 4 points behind, albeit with both Aylesbury and AFC Dunstable having 3 games in hand over Ware. Meanwhile, Welwyn Garden City had gone into the game on the back of a 1-0 home league win over Beaconsfield Town in their most recent game on 23rd November, which ended a run of 3 straight defeats out of a total winless run of games since a 4-0 home league win over North Leigh on 26th October.

Welwyn went into the game in 7th place, 2 points ahead of The Ducks with 6th placed Thame United a further 2 points ahead of the Hertfordshire side, albeit with Welwyn having played a game more than Aylesbury and 2 more than Thame.

The afternoon got off to a sombre start with a minute's silence before kick off as a mark of respect for and in memory of legendary former club stalwart Pat Smith, who had passed away recently.

Pat Smith was The Ducks' physio for many years in the club's Turnfurlong Lane days and after eventually retiring from that role in the earlier days at Buckingham Road, he became a turnstile operator for several years. The word legend is somewhat over-used in football, but it certainly applied to Pat Smith, who will be much missed by all those who knew him.

The first chance came Aylesbury's way in the 3rd minute when Ben Stallard's corner from the left to the near post found Morrison Hashii 12 yards out, who took a touch to control and despite stumbling to the ground, he eventually managed to get in a right foot shot from 15 yards which was deflected off a Welwyn defender past visiting keeper Joe Welch's left hand post for a corner.

Another chance came the hosts' way in the 5th minute when Sonny French won a challenge with Matt Whichelow on the halfway line before sending a formally to Kamil Zielinski on the edge of the centre circle. He spotted the run of Hashii through the middle, who got ahead of his marker before seeing his low right foot shot from 18 yards trickle wide of Welch's left hand post.

Welwyn's first chance came in the 6th minute when Zuriel Otsen-Taiwo's cross-field ball from the right found Lewis Jones inside the box to the right of middle, who took a touch to control before sending a diagonal ball to Jack Vasey on the left. He took a touch and made space to beat Liam Batchelor-Morgan before finding Bradley Wadkins, who dallied to switch the ball from his left foot to his right before seeing his right foot shot from 12 yards hit the foot of Ducks keeper Jack Hopwood's left hand post.

Then deep into the 8th minute, Welwyn took the lead when, from Layne Eddie's cross from the left touchline, Ducks defender Charley Tuttle's poor header away fell to Vasey on the edge of the box and he took a touch to control before seeing his left foot shot wrong-foot Hopwood on its way into the keeper's right hand corner. 1-0 Welwyn

Aylesbury equalised just before the end of the 23rd minute when Jake Bewley's long high ball forward on the left was misjudged by Welwyn defender Harry Gallagher and fell to French. He got ahead of Gallagher and ran into the left edge of the box before checking and cutting infield to his right and firing his low right foot shot from 15 yards through Welwyn defender Ryan Kirwan's legs and past Welch into his left-hand corner. 1-1

The Ducks went close in the 28th minute when a ball down the line was mis-controlled by Welwyn's Ben Crilley to allow Tom Cove to win the challenge 25 yards out on the left. He beat Crilley before squaring low infield to Hashii, whose attempted right foot shot was blocked with a goal-saving tackle by Gallagher.

Then in the 31st minute, Stallard was shown a yellow card by Reading referee Dan Malyon for a challenge on Otsen-Taiwo. A chance came Welwyn's way in the 34th minute when Eadie's left foot free kick from a couple of yards outside the right hand edge of the box into the middle found Wadkins, who sent his header from 10 yards wide of Hopwood's left hand post.

Then just into the 40th minute, Batchelor-Morgan's long ball over the top from the right of middle found the on-running Cove, who went down under challenge from Kirwan inside the box but referee Malyon waved away Aylesbury's claims for a penalty.

Then with 50 seconds of normal time left at the end of the first half, Crilley was shown a straight red card by referee Malyon for a wild studs-up challenge on Cove to leave the visitors to battle on with 10 men. In the immediate aftermath of Crilley's challenge, Otsen-Taiwo pushed over Tuttle and was shown a yellow card for his part in the incident.

With the board indicating a minimum of 2 minutes added time to be played at the end of the half, the visitors made a change 45 seconds into those 2 minutes when Ed Corbit came on to replace Jones.

Half time: Aylesbury United 1 - 1 Welwyn Garden City

The first chance of the second half came United's way in the 51st minute when Cove cut in from 25 yards out on the left before sending his low right foot shot from 18 yards into the side netting at Welch's right-hand post.

Then at the other end a minute later, Welwyn went close when Eadie overlapped on the left before seeing his long cross find Otsen-Taiwo on the right, who cut from the touchline and evaded a challenge before squaring infield to Wadkins, whose first time right foot shot from 8 yards in a central position was cleared off the line by Jack Wood.

The Ducks made their first change just into the 57th minute when Luqman Kassim came on to replace Hashii. Then in the 62nd minute, Eadie's ball down the left found the on-running Kirwan who ran into the box before going down under challenge from Kassim. However, referee Malyon again said no penalty with the ball going out for a corner.

A chance came Welwyn's way right at the end of the 71st minute when Kirwan ran forward before having his left foot shot from 35 yards held by Hopwood. Another chance came the visitors' way in the 76th minute when Wadkins ran forward through the left of middle past 2 or 3 defenders before having his left foot shot from 25 yards held by Hopwood.

Aylesbury went close just into the 83rd minute when Wood's ball on the left found Cove, who took a touch to control before squaring infield to Zielinski. His left foot shot from 18 yards was blocked by a combination of 2 defenders with the ball rebounding to Zielinski, whose left foot shot was saved by Welch before the ball was cleared off the line by Charles McDonald.

The Ducks made a double change in the 85th minute when Ben Peters came on to replace Cove and Kajetan Halatyn came on to replace Stallard.

With a minimum of 5 minutes added time to be played at the end, United went close just into the first of those 5 minutes when Will St Clair-Burton's pass down the left found Kassim. He took a touch to control before having his square ball across the box pushed away to his left by Welch but the in-running French was unable to get the vital touch at the far post.

The final chance of note for either side came Welwyn's way deep into the 2nd minute of added time when Eadie sent his left foot free kick from just outside the right-hand corner of the box past Hopwood's right hand post.

Then after an eventual total of 4 minutes 56 seconds of added time, the final blast of referee Malyon's whistle brought the game to a close and confirmed it was a case of honours even.

Aylesbury had avoided a 5th straight defeat but it still took their winless run to 5 games in all competitions.