Saturday 26th September 2009

Men's 1st XI

Aylesbury Mens 1st XI: 3 - City of Oxford: 1

Aylesbury's Mens 1st XI went into their final warm up game prior to the start of the league season with a much changed side from the Bucks County Cup the previous weekend. Against a very young looking side, City of Oxford clearly felt they could upset the home side with their greater experience and physicality. From the start though the pace and speed Aylesbury demonstrated meant that City hardly got a touch of the ball and thus posed any real threat. With Skipper Gregory dominating the centre of the park, well supported by veteran Usherwood and the skills of Penson and Greenlee, Aylesbury looked much the more likely to score. However, it was City who struck first when they broke into Aylesbury's D and after a fine save by Skinner the centre forward slotted home the rebound with literally their second shot of the game.

Increasingly Aylesbury looked threatening and with the running of Hignell and Paterson causing no end of trouble it wasn't long before space opened up for man of the match Penson to show some magic and create space and time to rifle home a finish that left the keeper standing and the Aylesbury crowd in rapture!, and eventually a goal came from all the pressure.

In the second half, Aylesbury looked determined to not allow any further chances, and with the experience and guile of the long serving pair or Bowes and Pridgeon, combined with the brilliant Fulwood making his debut at right back and the stalwart Austin at left-back City never again got close to scoring. Aylesbury's second came after a slick passing move left Hignell to deflect home from a yard. Their third followed shortly after following more pressure when Usherwood deflected a ball past the excellent City goalkeeper. Aylesbury could have scored many more if not for the post and some excellent goalkeeping, but had to be satisfied with a 3-1 victory.

Aylesbury 1sts look confident after 3 good results in a row and facing local rivals Amersham next week to start the league season.

Mens 2nds, 3rds, 4ths/5ths

Aylesbury 2nds and 3rd also played City of Oxford teams, with a youthful 2nds going down 2-0 to an experienced City side while the 3rds had a comfortable 5-0 win over City 3rds, with Jake Hodgins scoring a hat trick and further goals from Pritchard and Bob Gregory. A combined 4ths/5ths meanwhile played Witney. The game started well with Aylesbury hitting the bar and post in quick succession, and drawing several saves from the Witney keeper. However, it was not all one way and the youth of Witney with their pace and speed was the undoing of the more mature Aylesbury centre back and they took the lead. Not to be outdone the 'reds' responded positively and attacked again, eventually equalising following a quality defence splitting through ball from Ant Wilson to Rob Fulton, who calmly rounded the keeper and scored. However, just before halftime Witney broken again and were rewarded with a second goal. Following a constructive half time team talk the reds responded again and came very close on several occasions before Witney again scored to go 3-1 up. This shocked the reds back into a more attacking posture and they were rewarded with a 'scrappy' goal following several shots and attempted clearances, with Jon Smith jabbing the ball in. However, despite several short corners time ran out before the elusive equaliser was converted.

The Badgers development team had their first match of the season, with almost a completely new line up of juniors, against Gerrards Cross. Aylesbury were glad to settle for a 3-3 draw having been under pressure for much of the match. The goals came from adults Gurney (2) and Battye. There were excellent performance from all the juniors but Jacques Tasker and Chris McIntyre stood out in particular.