After a run of 4 postponed matches due to the recent poor weather, Aylesbury United returned to action, looking to add another win to that gained in the last match at Leverstock Green on 28th Dec. The break allowed for players nursing injuries to recover, most notably Charley Tuttle declared fit to return to the starting line up.

In the 9th minute, Kajetan Halatyn won the ball in midfield and spotted the marauding run of Jake Bewley breaking into the opposition half; the ball was fed into his path, but his shot from 25 yards was dragged across goal. Two minutes later Sonny French intercepted the ball and passed it forward to Halatyn; he looked up and found Luqman Kassim wide on the left who shot powerfully but just wide of the near post.

The hosts came close in the 24th minute, Billy Mardell-Smith played the ball to Roman Chapps who in turn found youngster Riley Carr wide on the right. He played a crossfield pass to Sudayisi Sendege on the left side of the goal, but his downward header was deflected wide. Hertford opened the scoring four minutes later, when Carr collected the ball on half way and evaded a challenge from Bewley and sprinted through the heart of the defence before confidently striking the ball past Jack Hopwood from just outside the penalty area. 1-0 Hertford

More bad news for the Ducks shortly afterward, as Tuttle was forced from the pitch with what looked like a recurrence of his previous injury, to be replaced by Tom Cove. As the clock ticked into the 45th minute, French and Halatyn combined well again to set Kassim free down the left; he pulled the ball back to French 6 yards out, but his first time effort was well saved by ex-Duck keeper James Callan. With 4 added minutes played, Callan again kept the Ducks at bay with an extraordinary double save. Kassim went on a mazy run down the left, first leaving Albert McGregor on his backside before beating Ryan Bernal, nutmegging Chapps at the byeline and wrongfooting Ben Herd before laying the ball back to Haziz Kone who saw his shot parried away by Callan. The ball fell to Liam Batchelor-Morgan whose point-blank shot from 6 yards was again beaten away by Callan. There was still time for one more glorious opportunity, as Batchelor-Morgan got the better of Liam Crutchett on the right, before finding Halatyn 8 yards out, but the striker could only direct his header over the crossbar.

Half-time: Hertford 1-0 Aylesbury

Five minutes after the restart a quick free kick taken by French found Kassim on the left; his cross low into the penalty area was met by Bewley, but his shot from 12 yards went over the bar.

Two minutes later and the Ducks were level, in slightly fortunate circumstances; patient play saw French exchange passes first with Will St Clair-Burton, then Halatyn, before passing to Batchelor-Morgan wide on the right. His return ball to French was struck first time, but took a big deflection off Chapps to wrong foot Callan and draw the scores level. 1-1

The hosts took the lead again in the 69th minute, with what the Ducks would consider a bad goal to concede. A corner by Crutchett was met by Adeniyi Gbolahan who had a free header 10 yards from goal, powering the ball into the roof of the net. 2-1 Hertford

Four minutes later Carr did well on the right getting beyond Bewley and firing in a cross which Jack Wood deflected away as far as substitute Marcus Painter, but he could only divert his effort wide of the far post. Shortly after, Bernal pulled the ball back to Archie O’Brien, who shit from close range, only to see Wood typically in the right place at the right time to clear the ball off the line with Hopwood beaten. A corner soon after fell to Painter 6 yards from goal, but more good defending saw his effort blocked, this time by St Clair-Burton.

Two minutes from the end of the 90, a killer blow saw Hertford extend their lead. The impressive Carr got beyond Cove on the right and pulled back to George Devine 10 yards out, who made no mistake to extend the lead. 3-1 Hertford

Despite having a 2-goal deficit, the Ducks didn’t throw in the towel and took the game back to the hosts; Kian Henry headed the ball to Kacper Kloc, who passed to French 25 yards out; he took a touch and fired a blockbuster of a shot into Callan’s top left corner to reduce the lead. 2-3

In truth it was too late to make a difference to the outcome of the game and the hosts saw out the remaining time to claim all 3 points. Up next is a run of 3 home matches in 7 days, starting with the visit of Biggleswade FC on Wednesday.